Deutsche Börse has decided to press ahead with its IPO in the first half of next year to provide itself with an acquisition currency in the ongoing consolidation of European stock exchanges.

A meeting of the Deutsche Börse board on Monday ratified plans to go public, which had been put on hold earlier this year while Deutsche Börse was in talks about a merger with the London Stock Exchange to create iX. Before the iX talks, Deutsche Börse was also planning to change its name to Euroboard and start trading the biggest European stocks listed on other exchanges. It is understood that under the current plans for the IPO, Deutsche Börse will retain its name but will still launch its own market for the top few hundred European stocks.