Merger of NYSE and Archipelago

My only interest with this is: what is the impact on Chicago jobs? And a subsidiary concern is: will Crain's Chicago Business pay attention to its middle name, and not simply cover the story from a coldhearted business perspective, but also cover it from the perspective of its effect on the Chicago region? That's not how they covered the Amoco merger, where they believed every lie the BP people told them before the Amoco center was almost completely vacated. Its not sheer parochialism, but the JOB of a local business newspaper to prioritize the impact on the local economy. Reuters) - The New York Stock Exchange said on Wednesday it will merge with electronic market operator Archipelago Holdings Inc. in a $400 million deal that will transform the NYSE into a publicly-traded company and help it break into electronic trading. The NYSE, the world's biggest stock exchange, will own 70 percent of the new company, its Chief Executive Officer John Thain said. Thain said the merger will not end floor trading at the NYSE and the hybrid company will take 12 months to get up to speed. The deal is subject to approval of NYSE members and the Securities Exchange Commission. The SEC said it would not comment on the transaction. The transaction comes amid the exchange's efforts to reinvent itself in the face of uncertain business prospects which sent NYSE seat membership prices to a nine-year low in January. "It's of huge significance for the industry -- the New York Stock Exchange just acquired this humongous competitive advantage," said Warren West, president of Greentree Brokerage Services in Philadelphia. Chicago-based Archipelago Holdings is the owner of electronic trading platform Archipelago exchange and a trader of Nasdaq-listed stocks. It is 22 percent owned by private equity firm General Atlantic LLC, which will own about 6 percent of the new company. Related story: Archipelago earnings fell 40% in 1Q Earlier in January, Archipelago agreed to buy the parent of the Pacific Exchange for more than $50 million, a deal that raised its profile while allowing it to expand into the options trading business. Archipelago was a front runner to buy electronic trading platform Instinet Group Inc., a majority-owned unit of Reuters Group Plc. But over time, Nasdaq became the leading bidder.>