Arca bid up!

Home Depot co-founder turned financier, Kenneth Langone, is attempting to launch a rival bid to buy the New York Stock Exchange and Archipelago according to a report in today's Wall Street Journal. You can read about it here: http://tinyurl.com/cgxjh

What does this mean for Arca?
Mr. Langone, according to the WSJ report, has asked numerous Wall Street chief executives, if they would be down with a counterbid for Archipelago and the NYSE.

Some of the CEOs that had a colloquy with Langone told the Journal that Langone is pissed-off about two things:
- The deal is undervalued; and
- That Goldman Sachs is serving as an adviser to both Archipelago and the NYSE in the merger.

The article goes on to say that once Langone gets enough support, it will be critical for him to bid on Archipelago in order to break up the deal proposed on 4/20. This begs the question:

What does this mean for Arca shareholders?
If Langone thinks the deal is undervalued, that means the value of AX is undervalued. Bidding battles tend to be favorable for sellers -- in this case Arca. To be sure, the value of what Putnam and his team have created is what is being bid on -- not the value of an open out-cry floor-based system.

Supporting this notion is the CNN article (see link above), statement:
" Financier Kenneth Langone is mounting a rival bid to buy electronic trading platform Archipelago Holdings"