Nasdaq Counteroffer 'Not an Option': NYSE Spokesman

NYSE Euronext is not considering a counteroffer to acquire rival Nasdaq OMX, the former company told CNBC Wednesday.

Oliver Quilla for CNBC.com

An offer for Nasdaq "is not an alternative we are considering, period," a spokesman for NYSE said.

Earlier Wednesday, French business newspaper Les Echos reported that NYSE was "studying the possibility to break the merger agreement linking the group to Deutsche Börse, in order to make a counteroffer for its candidate and historic rival."

Nasdaq joined InterContinental Exchange(ICE) on Friday to make a joint bid for NYSE Euronext. The American alliance offered up to $11.3 billion in shares and cash—a 19 percent premium for NYSE.

In February, before the Nasdaq/ICE offer, NYSE Euronext had already reached a $10.2 billion agreement to merge with the Frankfurt-based exchange Deutsche Börse.

A source close to NYSE Euronext’s Big Board told Reuters that a combination of NYSE Euronext and Nasdaq would be strategically unattractive and has insurmountable antitrust problems."

CNBC's Scott Wapner contributed to this report