By Inti Landauro and Sudip Kar-Gupta
PARIS (Reuters) - Pan-European stock market operator Euronext said on Monday it may sweeten its offer for Oslo Bors VPS as Nasdaq made a rival bid.
"Euronext will assess available options to adjust its offer and will communicate when appropriate," the Paris-listed market operator said in a statement on Monday.
Euronext's announcement comes as U.S.-based stock market operator Nasdaq was due to file a slightly higher bid for Oslo Bors than the one originally filed by Euronext in late December.
Olso Bors officials were not immediately available for comment.
Euronext had offered to pay 145 Norwegian crowns ($17.17) per share for Oslo Bors, which valued the company at 6.24 billion crowns or $739 million (564.8 million pounds). Last week, Nasdaq said it would offer 152 crowns per share.
A bidding war for one of the last independent stock market in Northern Europe is a sign the consolidation in the stock market groups in the region is speeding up. Euronext, which runs exchanges in Paris, Brussels, Amsterdam, Lisbon and Dublin, is looking to expand its portfolio but remaining opportunities are scarce as market operators either already belong to large groups or because their shareholders want to remain independent.
Large-scale mergers have also met opposition from competition regulators, who have previously blocked a planned tie-up between Deutsche Boerse and the London Stock Exchange.
Even though a slim majority of the Norwegian bourse's shareholders have already committed to sell to Euronext at the price offered, the Paris-based company may decide to sweeten its offer to fend off Nasdaq, a source close to the matter said last week.
Euronext also said its shareholders have approved a takeover of Oslo Bors.
Euronext was invited to bid for the company by a group of Olso Bors's shareholders without the support of the company's board. When the acquisition attempt was made public, Oslo Bors's board said it would look to the market for a rival bid to make sure shareholders would get the best deal.
For Euronext, a deal would match its strategy of bolt-on acquisitions. An expansion into Norway would help diversify its revenues from share and derivative trading, given Oslo Bors's leading position in seafood derivatives as well as oil services and shipping.
(Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta, additional reporting by Terje Solsvik; Editing by Inti Landauro and Louise Heavens)
