NASDAQ to Acquire Directors Desk, a Technology Company for Corporate Boards

NEW YORK, Jun 29, 2007 (PrimeNewswire via COMTEX News Network) -- The Nasdaq Stock Market, Inc. (Nasdaq:NDAQ), announced it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Directors Desk(sm), a privately held, Washington-based firm which provides technology to boards of public and private companies in the U.S and abroad. The acquisition of Directors Desk follows closely on the heels of NASDAQ's recent launch of Board Recruiting, an online matching service for companies and board members. Directors Desk will be part of a new service category in NASDAQ's Corporate Client Group, further establishing NASDAQ's presence as a strategic service provider to corporate boards. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Bruce Aust, Executive Vice President of NASDAQ, commented, "Efficient and effective communication has become an increasingly difficult task at the board level in an environment where corporations and board members must manage more information that is increasing in complexity. Directors Desk helps streamline the day-to-day functions of board management and eases the burden on directors so that they can focus on the information that is most critical to decision making." Aust continued, "We chose Directors Desk because we believe it has the best capabilities and features of any company in the category, with the technology to develop more services as the needs of a board evolve and change."

"Directors Desk recognized early on that forward-thinking boards would need better tools to truly advance the board function. In a fast evolving corporate governance environment, we are offering the right product at the right time," said Howard Breindel, President of Directors Desk. He continued, "NASDAQ was the perfect fit for us given their relationships with public companies, their philosophy to help companies manage their public responsibilities, and their global brand."

According to the Society of Corporate Secretaries and Governance Professionals, one in five boards in the U.S. currently use board portals.

Directors Desk services are delivered through a secure online workspace. Functionality and features include automated record keeping to satisfy regulatory requirements, online discussions, voting and surveys, document management such as online board books, calendar and event management and web conferencing. Directors Desk, founded in 2003, currently serves more than 1,000 board members globally across industries including healthcare, technology, financial services, consumer products and transportation.

The transaction is expected to close early in the third quarter of 2007.

About Directors Desk

Directors Desk empowers boards to be as effective as possible in executing their responsibilities. Directors Desk was founded in 2003 by a team of corporate governance and technology specialists. Today, its solutions are used by more than 1,000 directors around the world. The flagship Directors Desk product for public corporations offers a flexible and feature-rich communications tool for corporate boards. Its powerful, end-to-end, secure infrastructure lets board members communicate and exchange information online.

About NASDAQ

The Nasdaq Stock Market, Inc. is the largest U.S. electronic stock market. With approximately 3,200 companies, it lists more companies and, on average, its systems trade more shares per day than any other U.S. market. NASDAQ is home to companies that are leaders across all areas of business including technology, retail, communications, financial services, transportation, media and biotechnology. NASDAQ is the primary market for trading NASDAQ-listed stocks. For more information about NASDAQ, visit the NASDAQ Web site at http://www.nasdaq.com or the NASDAQ Newsroom at http://www.nasdaq.com/newsroom/.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

The matters described herein may contain forward-looking statements that are made pursuant to the Safe Harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements involve a number of risks, uncertainties or other factors beyond the control of The NASDAQ Stock Market, Inc. (the "Company"), which could cause actual results to differ materially from historical results, performance or other expectations and from any opinions or statements expressed or implied with respect to future periods. These factors include, but are not limited to, the Company's ability to implement its strategic initiatives, economic, political and market conditions and fluctuations, government and industry regulation, interest rate risk, U.S. and global competition, and other factors detailed in the Company's annual report on Form 10-K, and periodic reports filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. We undertake no obligation to release any revisions to any forward-looking statements.

NDAQG

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SOURCE: The Nasdaq Stock Market, Inc.

The Nasdaq Stock Market, Inc. 
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