JSDA seeking sale of Jasdaq market to Osaka -paper

TOKYO, Dec 27 (Reuters) - The Japan Securities Dealers Association (JSDA) plans to sell its Jasdaq Securities Exchange, Japan's largest market for start-ups, to the Osaka Securities Exchange (8697.OJ: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), the Nikkei business daily reported on Thursday.

JSDA was expected to announce later in the day it hoped to start talks with the Osaka exchange with the goal of merging Jasdaq with Osaka's Hercules market, the paper said. Talks may start early in the new year.

Consolidation of the two exchanges for start-ups was expected to lower operating and trading costs and help attract more trades, the Nikkei said.

However, talks between the OSE and JSDA, which owns 72.6 percent of Jasdaq, could be prolonged since Jasdaq management want to maintain the market's independence, the paper said. (Reporting by Taiga Uranaka)