On Thursday, the proposed merger of the NYSE and Euronext N.V. began to look ever more probable, as NYSE Euronext, Inc. filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) a Form S-4 Registration Statement. The filing, a joint effort by NYSE Group and Euronext and an SEC requirement, discloses a significant level of detail about the proposed merger and is a significant step in bringing about the deal's completion.

Still, the creation of NYSE Euronext is not a done deal.  The Deutsche Borse is continuing to push its alternative bid to merge with Euronext, even as the NYSE (and Euronext) proceeds with the assumption that its bid will go through.  In fact, the battle between the NYSE and the Deutsche Borse ratcheted up recently when Euronext's largest shareholder, The Children's Investment Fund, insisted that shareholders be given the right to vote on the Deutsche Borse question.

Earlier discussions between Deutsche Borse and Euronext appear to have failed based more on the sense that the German exchange would exert more direct control than it's U.S. counterpart. That, together with the NYSE's imposing stock offer was what convinced Euronext to accept the alternative offer from the NYSE, rather than move forward with a European exchange.