Top exchanges digest big buys

By Phil Wahba

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Top financial exchanges' recent big-ticket buying spree may finally be grinding to a halt.

After spending billions of dollars widening their global reach, adding new asset classes and acquiring new technologies, several of the top exchanges told the Reuters Exchanges and Trading Summit that they're ready for a pause.

In the past 13 months alone, the former NYSE Group completed its $10 billion merger with Euronext (NYX.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and the combined company bid to acquire the American Stock Exchange. In February, electronic exchange Nasdaq acquired Nordic exchange operator OMX in a $4.5 billion deal.

CME Group Inc CME.N, which bought the Chicago Board of Trade for $12 billion in 2007, is now waiting to complete the acquisition of the New York Mercantile Exchange NXM.N.

So most in the industry say they're focusing on integrating their purchases rather than making any new headline-grabbing takeovers.

"While I think consolidation in this space is destined to continue, it is going to be less transformational," NYSE Euronext Chief Executive Officer Duncan Niederauer said. "We are spending a lot of time worrying about putting the pieces together."

Instead, the exchanges are turning their attention toward smaller scale deals to acquire technology that will help them handle ever larger quantities of trades and offer customers more profitable ancillary services.

COMPETITIVE PRESSURES  Continued...