To avoid that, Merck structured its takeover of Schering-Plough as a reverse merger, with Schering-Plough technically acquiring Merck, and then renaming the company Merck.
The NYSE and Chicago-based Archipelago agreed to merge last week in a reversetakeover that will leave the holders of NYSE seats with 70% of the combined publicly traded firm and Archipelago with 30%.
Unruffled, Nomura's boss dismisses doubts about his plan to turn Japan's 83-year-old brokerage into a global hitter even, he suggests, if that means a "reverse takeover" by former Lehman executives, one of whom may eventually end up with his job.