NEW YORK (Reuters) - LaBranche & Co. (LAB.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), the largest market-maker on the New York Stock Exchange, did not sell any of its NYSE Group Inc. (NYX.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) shares during a secondary offering last week, Chairman and CEO Michael LaBranche said on Wednesday.
Indeed LaBranche, speaking at the Reuters Exchanges and Trading Summit in New York, indicated he expects the firm will retain its 3.1 million shares in the world's largest equities exchange for the long term.
"My company didn't sell any of its shares in the secondary, and we're very, very interested in what happens," LaBranche told Reuters.
LaBranche, great-grandson of the company's founder, said the firm owned 39 "seats" on the NYSE, which converted into 3.1 million common shares in March when the Big Board merged with Archipelago Holdings. Last week, a number of former NYSE seatholders sold $1.7 billion of their newly minted shares in a secondary offering.
"If you have a chance to liquefy some of your assets now worth $5 million, as opposed to $1 million (before the merger), I don't see any problem with that," LaBranche said. He added "We've always been a long-term holder, and it's no different today than it always was."
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