Nasdaq, Inc.

OM AB (Optionsmäklarna) was a futures exchange founded by Olof Stenhammar in the 1980s to introduce trading in standardized option contracts in Sweden. OM acquired the Stockholm Stock Exchange in 1998[5] and unsuccessfully attempted acquisition of the London Stock Exchange in 2001.[6] During the dot-com bubble in the early 21st century, OM, together with investment bank Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, launched a virtual European stock exchange called Jiway. The project was not successful[7] and was canceled on October 14, 2002.[8]

On September 3, 2003, the Helsinki Stock Exchange (HEX) merged with OM, and the joint company became OMHEX.[9] On August 31, 2004, the brand name of the company was changed to OMX.[10] OMX then acquired the Copenhagen Stock Exchange in January 2005[5] for €164 million.[11] On September 19, 2006, the Iceland Stock Exchange owner Eignarhaldsfelagid Verdbrefathing (EV) announced it would be acquired by OMX in a deal valuing the company at 250 million SEK.[12] The transaction was completed by the end of the year.[5]

The company took a 10% stake in Oslo Børs Holding ASA, the owner of the Oslo Stock Exchange in October 2006. As of September 2016, Nasdaq is not a major shareholder in the Oslo Stock Exchange holding company, which following a merger is currently called Oslo Børs VPS Holding ASA. Nasdaq has, however, publicly stated its interest in eventually acquiring the Oslo Stock Exchange.[13][14][15]

In November 2007, OMX acquired the Armenian Stock Exchange and the Central Depository of Armenia.[16]

In December 2005, OMX started First North, an alternative exchange for smaller companies, in Denmark. The First North exchange expanded to Stockholm in June 2006, Iceland in January 2007 and Helsinki in April 2007.[17] The Markets Technology division of Computershare was acquired in 2006. The acquisition greatly expanded its product offerings and made its client list the largest of all trading system technology providers.

On October 2, 2006, the group launched a virtual Nordic Stock Exchange after merging the individual lists of shares traded at its three wholly owned Nordic exchanges into a combined Nordic List.[18] Companies listed on the Iceland Stock Exchange have also since been merged into the list. OMX also launched a pan-regional benchmark index known as the OMX Nordic 40 on the same date; however, the individual exchanges have also retained their own national benchmark indices.

In December 2005, the London Stock Exchange Group (LSE) rejected a £1.6 billion takeover offer from Macquarie Bank. The LSE described the offer as "derisory". It then received a bid in March 2006 for £2.4 billion from NASDAQ, which was also rejected by the LSE. NASDAQ later pulled its bid, and less than two weeks later on April 11, 2006, struck a deal with LSE's largest shareholder, Ameriprise Financial's Threadneedle Asset Management unit, to acquire all of that firm's stake, consisting of 35.4 million shares, at £11.75 per share.[19] NASDAQ also purchased 2.69 million additional shares, resulting in a total stake of 15%. While the seller of those shares was undisclosed, it occurred simultaneously with a sale by Scottish Widows of 2.69 million shares.[20] The move was seen as an effort to force LSE to negotiate either a partnership or eventual merger, as well as to block other suitors such as NYSE Euronext, owner of the New York Stock Exchange.[21]

Subsequent purchases increased NASDAQ's stake to 29%, holding off competing bids for several months. However, only a further 0.4% of shareholders accepted the offer by the deadline and therefore the offer was rejected[22] on February 10, 2007.

On October 2, 2007, Nasdaq purchased the Boston Stock Exchange.[23] On November 7, Nasdaq announced an agreement to purchase the Philadelphia Stock Exchange.[24]

Former logo used from 1971 to 2014, with Nasdaq logo added in 2007. "OMX" was omitted from the corporate name and logo in 2015.

On May 25, 2007, NASDAQ agreed to buy OMX for US$3.7 billion.[25] In August, however, Borse Dubai offered US$4 billion, prompting speculation of a bidding war.[26] On September 20, 2007, Borse Dubai agreed to stop competing to buy OMX in return for a 20% stake and 5 percent of votes in NASDAQ as well as NASDAQ's then 28% stake in the London Stock Exchange.[27] In a complex transaction, Borse Dubai acquired 97.2% of OMX's outstanding shares before selling them on to NASDAQ.[28] The newly merged company was renamed the NASDAQ OMX Group upon completion of the deal on February 27, 2008.

On June 18, 2012, NASDAQ became a founding member of the United Nations Sustainable Stock Exchanges initiative on the eve of the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20).[29]

On December 12, 2012, NASDAQ OMX announced that it would acquire Thomson Reuters for $390 million in cash. This deal included its investor relations, public relations and multimedia businesses.[30] NASDAQ OMX completed the purchase on June 3, 2013.[31]

In April 2017, Nasdaq launched Nasdaq Ventures, a venture investment program focused on companies that will help Nasdaq grow its product lines and open new market segments. The first 3 companies announced as part of the program are Chain, a blockchain technology company; Digital Reasoning, cognitive computing technology; and Hanweck, real-time risk analytics.[32]

During Christmas of 2018, shareholders representing 25% of Oslo Børs VPS Holding (the Norwegian Stock Exchange and national CSD operator)[33] held a private auction of share sale. Nasdaq did not participate in the auction due to the hostile nature of the bid (held without Oslo Børs boards knowledge or approval). Euronext won the auction, and later secured another 24.6% of shareholder support, totaling 49.6%. Following this, Nasdaq acquired 32.5% shares in open market (mainly from individual shareholders/employees),[34] and submitted an official bid, with unanimous recommendations from board and some key shareholders,[35] to acquire remaining shares for 152 NOK, and later increased offer to 158 NOK (or almost 44% premium of December 17, 2018 closing price, to match Euronext offer),[36] additionally making the case to Norway's markets regulator that in cases like this, 2/3 of the share control may be necessary to comply with any applicable regulatory requirement. In the end the regulator did not side with the two-thirds requirements, and general majority was deemed to be applicable. Euronext by that time had acquired or secured control of 50.5% shares,[37] and Nasdaq had announced on May 25, 2019 that they were pulling out of the Oslo Børs battle, handing Euronext the victory.[38]

In June 2023, Nasdaq announced that it had agreed to acquire Adenza from Thoma Bravo in a $10.5 billion cash-and-stock deal, the biggest for the US exchange operator to date. As part of the deal, Thoma Bravo would get a 15 percent stake in Nasdaq.[39]

In January 2013, NASDAQ OMX announced that it would combine its global data products and index businesses into a unit called Global Information Services, as part of an ongoing effort to broaden its portfolio.[41]

On June 29, 2007, NASDAQ entered into an agreement to acquire DirectorsDesk.com, a management suite for boards of directors.[42]

GlobeNewswire (previously PrimeNewswire) provides press release, editing and wire services. It was founded in 1998 and acquired by NASDAQ OMX in 2006.[43] It was sold to Intrado in April 2018.[44]

On July 27, 2010, NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc. acquired SMARTS Group, a provider of market surveillance systems to exchanges, regulators and brokers.[45] SMARTS Group had been a private company operating in Sydney, Australia, incorporating the market analysis software of Michael James Aitken.[46][47] By 2017 SMARTS remained the leading market surveillance software,[48] and was employed by thirteen regulators on forty-five exchanges.[49]

NASDAQ OMX sold its stake in the Carpenter Moore D&O Insurance in 2009.

The company's stock market activities are categorized into three divisions:

• Nordic Market (Copenhagen, Stockholm, Helsinki, Iceland)
• Baltic Market (Tallinn, Riga, Vilnius)
• First North (alternative exchange)