Nasdaq Stock Market (NDAQ:NDAQ) and Borse Dubai announced a three-way deal with OMX in which Borse Dubai will continue with its $4 billion cash bid for OMX and then subsequently sell OMX to Nasdaq in exchange for a 20% stake in the stock exchange along with a 28% stake in the London Stock Exchange, according to the Associated Press.

Nasdaq failed in its bid for the London Stock Exchange earlier this year and now has a chance to unload its stake in exchange for the the OMX stock exchange. Prior to this agreement, many were speculating the Nasdaq may have to sell off its stake at a substantial loss. Now, shareholders can be content with a smaller - but still significant - acquisition of OMX.

The new agreement marks a continued wave of acquisitions in the stock exchanges business following NYSE's purchase of Euronext and CME's acquisition of the CBOT. Regardless, this is great news for Nasdaq shareholders as it means it is one step closer to keeping up with the NYSE and was able to unload its LSE stake without incurring substantial losses.

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