Sources: Grasso Ally Langone Mounting Rival Bid Against NYSE for Archipelago

The Wall Street Journal ^ | April 24, 2005 | Susanne Craig

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Sources: Grasso Ally Langone Mounting Bid for Archipelago

Financier Kenneth Langone is mounting a rival bid to buy electronic trading platform Archipelago Holdings Inc. (AX), a move rich in Wall Street politics that threatens to derail its proposed union with the New York Stock Exchange, according to people familiar with the matter.

The Home Depot Inc. (HD) co-founder and friend of former NYSE chief Dick Grasso quietly reached out to a number of Wall Street chief executives, asking them if they would be interested in participating in a counterbid for Archipelago.

Mr. Langone, according to some of the CEOs who spoke to him, is angry that investment bank Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) took the rare step of acting as advisor to both Archipelago and the NYSE, a move many on Wall Street believe to be a conflict. He also thinks Archipelago is worth more than the NYSE is offering -- 30% of a new company that NYSE seatholders will get the rest of.

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