Nasdaq's London Gamble

The relative price makes financing an acquisition more difficult. The Nasdaq has already incurred debt earlier this year, with a $1.92 billion line of credit from Bank of America(BAC) to finance its initial purchase of a 15% equity stake in the LSE. It later issued shares to pay back that debt, but analysts are still skeptical.

"With limited debt capacity on Nasdaq's balance sheet [and] a weak stock price ... we see Nasdaq as being somewhat currency challenged near term," says Worthington.

In addition to the bothersome math, Greifeld has another stubborn obstacle to overcome: Furse. Those close to Furse say that she hasn't changed her stance since March and still is opposed to doing a deal with the Nasdaq. Tom Caldwell, a serial stock exchange investor with shares in the LSE and the NYSE and a very small stake of the Nasdaq, recently met with Furse in London.

"I think London would clearly prefer to go it alone," Caldwell says. "If they had to dance with anyone, my opinion was that they would prefer to do it with the NYSE."

Still, Nasdaq supporters say Greifeld is crafty. Although he may not have the diplomatic touch of NYSE CEO John Thain, he is aggressive. They say his decision to pursue the LSE with such vigor ensured that the Nasdaq wouldn't be a bystander in the global consolidation story.

"I don't think that this deal has to illustrate his motives," Guziec says.

Greifeld won't give up the bid for the LSE without exploring the most lucrative financing possibility, sources say. With private equity capital sloshing around in the market, there are plenty of investors who could be interested. In fact, Greifeld already has two private equity investors, Hellman & Freidman and Silver Lake, which have helped the exchange in the past.

But with a declining stock price, which was down another 3.4% in trading Tuesday, the chance for an LSE buyout looks less hopeful -- at least for a while.

>To order reprints of this article, click here: Reprints