NASDAQ Stock Market's $750 million term loan broke in the secondary market at par last week, trading up a point to 101, according to traders. The loan, which is led by JPMorgan, backs NASDAQ's acquisition of INET trading platform. The acquisition was completed last week.
Nasdaq said the INET acquisition provides it with a technologically superior trading platform and improves its ability to compete with U.S. and international market centers. It also expects the INET technology to help it increase savings. In a release, Bob Greifeld, president and ceo of NASDAQ, said the deal is a key part of NASDAQ's growth plan to provide the most liquid and efficient market for global equities, and to be the number one market for trading stocks.
Moody's Investors Service assigned the bank loan a Ba2 rating. It said in a release that the INET acquisition allows NASDAQ to reclaim market share in equity trading that it had lost to INET and other alternative trading venues. It added that the acquisition substantially increases its financial leverage.