Euronext appears to know when it's been beaten. The operator of the Paris, Brussels and Lisbon stock exchanges, as well as LIFFE, the London derivatives exchange, all but bowed out of the race to acquire the London Stock Exchange, joining Deutsche Börse and Australia's Macquarie Bank among spurned bidders for the City institution. Euronext said it will return about €1 billion to shareholders, after the Nasdaq Stock Market offered about $4.2 billion to buy the LSE. That bid – which was rejected as too low – is more than 60% higher than Macquarie's rejected offer, and analysts say that Nasdaq may be able to increase its offer by up to 50%. The NYSE Group, the newly-public owner of the New York Stock Exchange, is also thought to be interested in the LSE, and may, in fact, be the LSE's preferred partner.
 
All is not lost for Euronext, however, which is expected to make a run for the Deutsche Börse, its main continental competitor. Euronext CEO Jean-Francois Theodore said he was "pleased" to be named the German exchange's preferred partner.