UPDATE: U.S. Department Of Justice Clears NYSE Euronext Merger With Deutsche Börse

NYSE Euronext (NYSE:NYX] announced today that the Antitrust Division of the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) has cleared the proposed combination between NYSE Euronext and Deutsche Börse AG (XETRA: DB1). The DOJ has entered into a consent decree with NYSE Euronext and Deutsche Börse that allows the combination to proceed, while requiring the sale of the International Securities Exchange's (ISE) minority stake in the Direct Edge Holdings, LLC. ISE is wholly owned by Eurex, the derivatives exchange of Deutsche Börse. ISE has held its 31.54% minority stake in Direct Edge since 2008, and according to the consent decree, the parties will have at least two years from the date of closing their combination to complete this sale. “We are very pleased to have received the approval of the DOJ, an important milestone on our path to completing our compelling Trans-Atlantic combination,” said Duncan L. Niederauer, CEO, NYSE Euronext. “On behalf of our Company, we are grateful to the DOJ staff for their efforts and for the diligence and thoroughness of their review.” Completion of the transaction is subject to further closing conditions, including approvals by the European Commission and other relevant national stock exchange supervisory authorities.