NYSE Sets Size of Secondary

Existing owners of NYSE Group(NYX) stock plan to unload 25 million shares in the company's upcoming secondary offering, the exchange disclosed in a filing Wednesday.

At the current quote of about $68.50, the 25 million shares are worth about $1.7 billion. The NYSE, which came public two months ago through a reverse merger with Archipelago Holdings, isn't selling any new stock in the offering, which is expected to occur next month.

Two big holders of NYSE stock that are subject to restrictions on their sales, Goldman Sachs(GS) and General Atlantic LLC, will be cashing out a portion of their stake, the filing noted.

Goldman, the former employer of NYSE CEO John Thain and a key adviser in the Archipelago merger, plans to sell 1.71 million of its 3.99 million NYSE shares, reducing its ownership stake in the company to 4.7% from 5.8%. General Atlantic, a private equity company that came into its NYSE stake through its ownership position in Archipelago, plans to sell 1.85 million of its 10.4 million shares, lowering its stake to 5.5% from 6.7%.

The offering represents the NYSE's first foray into public markets under its current ticker. The stock has been a spotty performer since coming public March 8 at $67 a share. After surging into the $80s in the first few weeks of trading, shares have since settled back to about $1.50 above that price as concerns have grown about valuation and the company's expansion plans.

Still, using predecessor Archipelago's shares as a proxy, the stock has nearly doubled in the year since the merger was announced.

Other 5% holders that are selling into the secondary include each of the deal's lead underwriters: JPMorgan(JPM), Lehman Brothers(LEH), Merrill Lynch(MER) and Morgan Stanley(MS). Other Wall Street firms taking part include UBS(UBS), Bank of America(BAC) and Citigroup(C), each of which is part of the underwriting syndicate.

About 14.7 million shares will be sold by other shareholders who weren't named in the filing.

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