NYSE Seat Price Sets Another Record

Prices for memberships on the New York Stock Exchange reached a new high as a seat was sold Wednesday for a record $3.25 million.

The latest sale eclipses the all-time high of $3,025,000, set Monday. Seat prices have rebounded this year since falling to $975,000 in January, the lowest price in years.

There are 1,366 membership seats at the NYSE. Each seat grants its holders trading privileges at the exchange.

The rise in seat prices has been fueled by the NYSE’s plan to acquire Archipelago Holdings Inc., a Chicago company that runs an electronic exchange.

The deal would turn the 213-year-old Big Board into a for-profit, publicly traded company and would help it expand into other businesses, such as the trading of options and shares listed on the Nasdaq Stock Market.

The Archipelago merger was challenged in court by a group of NYSE seat holders who were unhappy with the transaction’s terms. But the lawsuit was settled Tuesday, with the NYSE agreeing to have the deal reviewed by another investment firm.

On Wednesday, U.S. antitrust regulators said they had approved the Big Board’s purchase of Archipelago, as well as Nasdaq’s purchase of Instinet Group Inc., a deal that would combine the two largest electronic stock markets.

“After detailed investigations of the exchange mergers, the department determined that neither transaction is likely to reduce competition,” the Justice Department said.