NYSE Says Amex Invites Merger Offer
The American Stock Exchange, through its investment bankers, has asked the New York Stock Exchange to examine the third-largest U.S. stock market and consider a combination with it, the NYSE said Wednesday.
“We did receive a call from the bankers for the Amex asking us to take a look,” said Robert Zito, head of marketing and communications for the NYSE. “We will, once we receive the materials.”
The Amex, which trades options, stocks and exchange-traded funds, or ETFs, now is owned by the Nasdaq Stock Market’s parent, the National Assn. of Securities Dealers. But the NASD, which is spinning off the Nasdaq market as a separate entity, also is seeking to divest the Amex.
The Amex’s interest in a merger with the NYSE was reported Wednesday by the Wall Street Journal.
The Amex could offer the NYSE a way to expand in the growing ETF business. ETFs are securities that represent a basket of stocks, often those in an index, and trading volume in them has soared over the last couple of years.
By contrast, the Amex’s importance as a market of individual company stocks has faded over the last decade as Nasdaq has eclipsed it as the home of up-and-coming young companies.
NASD Chairman Robert Glauber said last week that investment bankers were still drawing up sale materials on the Amex. The NASD wanted to conclude any divestiture by year-end, though there was no guarantee that would happen, Glauber said.
The Wall Street Journal said no agreement between the NYSE and the Amex was imminent.
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Sprint Boosts Outlook,
Triggering Stock Surge
Sprint Corp. said Wednesday that its wireless business would add more subscribers in the first quarter than analysts were expecting, pushing the unit’s downtrodden stock up 20%.
The No. 3 U.S. long-distance phone company said its Sprint PCS unit would add 700,000 to 750,000 net subscribers, compared with Wall Street expectations of 550,000 to 700,000. And Sprint said the unit would yield cash flow approaching $600 million before customer service center closing costs.
The forecast came less than a week after Sprint said it lined up a $1-billion bank loan in an effort to allay fears of a cash crunch--a concern recently afflicting several telecom companies in the wake of Global Crossing’s failure.
Shares of the Sprint PCS tracking stock closed at $11.47, up $1.92, or 20%, on the New York Stock Exchange. Other depressed wireless shares also rebounded.
Analysts also were encouraged that Sprint reaffirmed expectations of 3 million subscriber additions and cash flow of $3 billion for full-year 2002. It also reiterated its expectation of average revenue per unit, a key measurement of performance, to be $60 a month.
Reuters
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Veridian Files for Initial
Public Stock Offering
Veridian Corp., which develops intelligence-gathering networks and programs for law enforcement and U.S. government agencies, including the Defense Department, filed Wednesday with the Securities and Exchange Commission for an initial public stock offering that could raise up to $175 million.
Defense-related stocks have rallied sharply since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, which focused attention on intelligence-gathering needs and defense strategies.
Veridian said it had a net loss of $21.4 million in 2001 on revenue of $690 million. The Arlington, Va.-based firm plans to list its shares on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol VNX, but it didn’t name a date for the IPO.
Bloomberg News
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Briefly
Mattel Inc.’s ratings outlook was revised to “stable” from “negative” by Moody’s Investors Service and Standard & Poor’s because the El Segundo-based toy maker has lowered debt and improved cash flow. Mattel shares (MAT) rose 20 cents to $19.20 on the NYSE.
