Reto Francioni, chief executive and chairman of Deutsche Börse, is unlikely to have an easy weekend. Shares in the German stock exchange fell 4% on news that Nasdaq OMX, the US exchange, had finally made its move for rival NYSE Euronext.
Nasdaq OMX ended several weeks of speculation at 11.10 GMT today when it said it had teamed up with US futures giant IntercontinentalExchange to submit an $11.3bn counterbid for NYSE Euronext.