Euronext

Euronext is the largest stock exchange in Europe and sixth largest in the world. Originally created by the mergers of Amsterdam, Paris and Brussels stock exchanges.

Over the years, it merged with several other exchanges, most notably the New York Stock Exchange, before being acquired itself by the Intercontinental Exchange.

In 2014, Euronext was spun off to become an independent entity once again.

Euronext formed in 2000 with the merger of three European exchanges. It later acquired the Portuguese stock exchange and the London International Financial Futures and Options Exchange (LIFFE), expanding its offerings to include equities, exchange traded funds, warrants and certificates, bonds, derivatives, commodities and indices. It maintains headquarters in Amsterdam with major offices in Brussels, London, Lisbon, Dublin and Paris. As of 2017, Euronext listed 1,300 issuers representing a €3 trillion (euros) in market capitalization.

Euronext itself trades in Amsterdam with the symbol ENX.

Some of its more notable benchmark indices include:

• AEX in Amsterdam
• BEL 20 in Brussels
• CAC 40 in Paris
• PSI 20 in Lisbon
• Euronext 100 - a pan-European blue-chip index

2000 Euronext NV formed by merging the stock exchanges of Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam

2002 Euronext buys LIFFE and the Portuguese stock exchange

2005 Alternext created

2007 Euronext merges with New York Stock Exchange to create NYSE Euronext.

2010 Euronext London created.

2013 Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) buys NYSE Euronext.

2014 Euronext re-emerges from ICE via initial public offering. Note: ICE retained ownership of the New York Stock Exchange.

Regulated solely by Euronext, the Alternext is an equity trading market, opened in 2005, that offers streamlined listing requirements and trading rules to better meet the needs of small and mid-sized firms while ensuring investor transparency.

EnterNext is the Euronext subsidiary, created in 2013, dedicated to financing and promoting small and medium-sized companies (SMEs) in the financial markets. It comprises the 750 listed companies on Euronext markets in Belgium, France, the Netherlands and Portugal.

In 2006, the Nasdaq made an attempt to acquire the London Stock Exchange (LSE). Noting the race to scale, the NYSE Group decided to go after Euronext. The Nasdaq - LSE merger, however, did not progress.

However, the Deutsche Börse in Germany tried unsuccessfully to outbid the NYSE Group. The German group tried on two occasions to merger with the new NYSE Euronext but lost out to Intercontinental Exchange.

In 2017, the European Union's antitrust watchdog formally blocked the planned $28 billion merger between Deutsche Börse and London Stock Exchange Group after the parties failed to offer sufficient remedies to assuage antitrust concerns.