Three groups have reportedly held talks to buy the New York Mercantile Exchange for as much as $14bn (€10.5bn), in a deal which would be the world's largest exchange takeover.

Bloomberg reports that Nymex executives have held confidential talks relating to a sale of the business with counterparts from NYSE Euronext, Deutsche Börse and the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, which are all considering buying the US-based energy market.