Yesterday after closing TOM (The Order Machine) announced that NASDAQ OMX has acquired an equity stake of 25% in TOM. Additionally there is an option for NASDAQ OMX to expand its stake in TOM to 50.1% in the future.

Further details, see the TOM press release.

PRESS RELEASE

TOM (The Order Machine) welcomes  NASDAQ OMX as shareholder

Amsterdam, 10 December, 2012

TOM (The Order Machine) today announced that NASDAQ OMX has acquired an equity stake of 25% in TOM. Additionally, there is an option for NASDAQ OMX to expand its stake in TOM to 50.1% in the future. The cooperation is expected to lead to technological innovations in equity and options trading and to further expansion of TOM in Europe.

Consequently, NASDAQ OMX will provide TOM with a standalone infrastructure in London to offer TOM's clients optimal low latency connectivity and an infrastructure with a higher capacity to process more orders and transactions.

After TOM's successful rollout in the Dutch derivatives market, TOM aims for growth in Europe. In the Dutch options market TOM is targeting with existing customers a market share of 30% to 40% in 2013.

Willem Meijer, CEO of TOM: "Due to the solid and global NASDAQ OMX network, European expansion of TOM is within reach. Moreover, with their advanced technology and expertise, NASDAQ  OMX will contribute positively  to the future successes of TOM. As open platform we invite all banks and brokers to benefit from the advantages as a result of this competition."

Hans-Ole Jochumsen, Executive Vice President Global Data Products  and Transaction Services Nordics, NASDAQ OMX: "With our investment in TOM we strengthen our position in Europe offering clients advantages in their equity and options trading through technology. The Smart Order Router of TOM is an excellent example of technical innovation in favour of the client."

The transaction is subject to the approval of relevant supervisory authorities.

About TOM (The Order Machine)
TOM is a trading venue in The Netherlands offering equity and options trading and aiming at optimal competition between markets. To be able to guarantee best execution of client orders, TOM developed a search engine ('TOM Smart Execution') which compares prices, faster than a blink of an eye, between markets. The client's order is executed at the trading venue showing the best available price at that moment. TOM has established a substantial market position in equity and options trading.

About NASDAQ  OMX
The inventor and transformer of the electronic exchange, The NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc., fuels economies with revolutionary technologies for the entire lifecycle of a trade - from risk management to trade to surveillance to clearing. In the US and Europe, the group owns and operates 24 markets, 3 clearinghouses and 6 central securities depositories supporting equities, options, fixed income, derivatives, commodities, futures and structured products. Able to traffic more than 1 million messages per second at sub-80 microsecond speeds with 99.999% uptime, NASDAQ OMX technology drives more than 70 exchanges in 50 developed and emerging countries into the future, powering 1 in 10 of the world's securities transactions.
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