On Wednesday, there was a notable downturn in the common stock of Nasdaq Inc., experiencing a decline of 2.4%. This followed the announcement of a stock offering by its parent company, the Nasdaq stock exchange, involving one of its major shareholders, Borse Dubai.
The offering consisted of 26.97 million shares, priced at $59 per share, resulting in a substantial capital raise of about $1.6 billion.
Nasdaq’s stock, traded under the ticker symbol NDAQ, witnessed active premarket trading with approximately 115,000 shares changing hands, highlighting its status as one of the more actively traded equities.
Despite this offering, Borse Dubai will maintain ownership of 62.4 million shares, which constitutes roughly 10.8% of Nasdaq’s total outstanding shares.
Upon the outcome of the offering, Borse Dubai will emerge as Nasdaq’s second-largest shareholder.
Essa Kazim, the Group Chief Executive of Borse Dubai, emphasized that the offering is anticipated to enhance the capital structure and liquidity of the Middle East stock exchange.
Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC have been selected as joint lead book-running managers for the stock offering, with JPMorgan serving as Nasdaq’s capital markets adviser.
Additionally, as part of the agreement, Borse Dubai has agreed not to sell any additional shares in Nasdaq for 18 months. It’s worth noting that Borse Dubai has maintained its shareholder position in Nasdaq for an impressive 16-year span.
In light of the market movements observed on Wednesday, Nasdaq’s stock performance in 2024 has shown a 4.8% increase, contrasting with the S&P 500’s 8.6% gain over the same period.
