Nasdaq OMX Group Inc. and IntercontinentalExchange Inc. (ICE) made a hostile bid of about $11.3 billion for NYSE Euronext Inc. this morning, trying to snatch the owner of the New York Stock Exchange away from Deutsche Boerse AG, Bloomberg reported.

Nasdaq OMX and ICE offered $42.50 in cash and stock for each NYSE Euronext share, according to a statement released today. The shares closed at $35.17 on Thursday.  Deutsche Boerse’s February all-stock agreement to purchase NYSE Euronext values the company at about $35.04 a share.

The union of NYSE Euronext and Nasdaq OMX would join the two largest U.S. exchange operators, giving the combined company a monopoly for corporate stock listings in the world’s largest capital market. As part of the deal, ICE would purchase NYSE Euronext’s LIFFE futures markets, while Nasdaq OMX would keep its U.S. options markets. The Deutsche Boerse deal, valued at $9.53 billion when announced in February, would create the world’s largest exchange operator with venues in the United States and Europe.

“The DB-NYSE deal would be better for the market and for customers, so economically it would make more sense,” said Christian Muschick, an analyst at Silvia Quandt & Cie. in Frankfurt. “Splitting up the business between Nasdaq and ICE doesn’t sound very sexy. Honestly, I wouldn’t understand why Nasdaq shareholders should like this proposal. Nevertheless, discussions will now start and of course first it will be bad for DB’s share price and clearly good news for NYSE stock.”

Deutsche Boerse’s bid for NYSE Euronext is “the best possible combination for both shareholder groups and the stakeholders of the companies,” Deutsche Boerse said in a statement. Richard Adamonis, a NYSE Euronext spokesman, declined to comment.