Acquisitive NYSE pushes toward Europe: sources

[Flabbergasted]

(Could someone tell me what the implications of this are? I'm not a stocks and bonds guy)

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060418/bs_nm/financial_nyse_dc;_ylt=As2Pr0nPK8JbMQm6_MWcZsxvaA8F;_ylu=X3oDMTA5aHJvMDdwBHNlYwN5bmNhdA--

NEW YORK/LONDON (Reuters) - The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE:NYX - news) is pushing ahead with international ambitions, after it met pan-European exchange Euronext (ENXT.PA) and sounded out shareholders in the London Stock Exchange (LSE.L) about buying stakes, sources said on Tuesday.

The Big Board has stated its ambition to expand as financial exchanges consolidate, and last month gained currency to make acquisitions when it became a publicly traded company.

Last week, the NYSE said it was in talks with certain industry participants regarding a strategic transaction -- an announcement that came hot on the heels of arch-rival Nasdaq Stock Market Inc. (Nasdaq:NDAQ - news) snapping up a 14.99 percent stake in the LSE, Europe's largest stock market.

Nasdaq made the share purchase after the LSE rebuffed its 2.4 billion pound ($4.2 billion), or 950 pence per share, takeover offer.

A source familiar with the situation said Saturday that the LSE was one of the parties the NYSE had been in talks with.