By Louise Nordstrom
Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

STOCKHOLM (Dow Jones)--The Oslo Stock Exchange (OSLO.NO) Monday said it is still determined to go it alone, despite the announcement last week that yet another of its Nordic peers had rekindled potential merger talks with Nordic stock exchange operator OMX AB (OMX.SK).

That deal, if it leads to a merger, would leave the Oslo bourse as the last independent exchange in the Nordic-Baltic region - something the Norwegian company's chief executive says doesn't bother her at all.

"We already have the synergies (in house) that we could get through consolidation," Oslo Boers Holding ASA Chief Executive Bente Landsnes told Dow Jones Newswires. "If you want to consolidate, you need a good reason for doing it - and we don't have one right now."

Her comments come after Friday's announcement that Stockholm-based OMX and Icelandic bourse operator ICEX had initiated cooperation talks that could result in a merger. The talks are still at an early stage, they noted, but they said they are discussing how to further deepen cooperation.

OMX has repeatedly said it has standing invitations to ICEX and Oslo to join its company - which already includes the exchanges in Stockholm, Copenhagen and Helsinki in Scandinavia and those in Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia in the Baltics.

Oslo's Landsnes, however, said the bourse's participation in the Norex alliance - under which it, ICEX and OMX's six exchanges share common trading systems - as well as the company's strong specialization in the oil, energy and fish industries would allow the exchange to keep its business growing.

Major companies listed on the exchange include Statoil ASA (STO), Telenor ASA (TELN) and Pan Fish ASA (PAN.OS).

A Stockholm-based analyst agreed that Oslo wouldn't necessarily benefit from consolidation at this stage, as it was performing strongly as a standalone, thanks to the rise in oil price, which is helping the many energy-related shares on the exchange. "There would always be integration work," the analyst said.


Wider Consolidation Efforts Throughout Sector

The renewed negotiations between ICEX and OMX reflect wider consolidation efforts in the sector worldwide. Some of the world's largest stock exchanges, including Nasdaq Stock Market Inc. (NDAQ), London Stock Exchange Group PLC (LSE.LN), the NYSE Group Inc. (NYX), Deutsche Boerse AG (DB1.XE) and Euronext NV (24151.AE) are either potential acquisition targets, pursuers or both.

Landsnes said that although the sector is facing large-scale mergers, there will always be room for smaller players.

"In the backwater, there will always be smaller exchanges popping up, like we've seen in the U.S., because the larger bourses won't be able to cover everything," she said.

"We have a good business with good results, and we don't see any good reasons (for a merger) now," she said.

According to the European Securities Exchange Statistics, the market capitalization for stocks trading on all of OMX exchanges amount to EUR686.5 billion. On the Oslo exchange, it amounts to EUR190 billion, while on ICEX, the total is EUR19.6 billion.

The Oslo exchange is owned by Oslo Boers Holding ASA, which in turn is held mostly by both domestic and international institutional owners. Oslo Boers Holding lists DnB NOR Bank (DNBNOR.OS) with around 20%, Fidelity Funds Europe with 10%, media group Orkla (ORK.OS) with 10% and Norsk Hydros Pensjon with around 8% among its top 20 holders.

Its market capitalization as of the end of 2005 was listed at 1.95 billion Norwegian kroner, or about $318 million.

Last month, Oslo Boers Holding posted a second-quarter net profit of NOK68.5 million, more than double the year-earlier period, helped by record activity in equity and derivatives trading.

Company Web site: http://www.oslobors.no

-By Louise Nordstrom, Dow Jones Newswires; +46 8 545 130 97; [email protected]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

August 08, 2006 01:45 ET (05:45 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2006 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.