Big Board Faces New Suits Over Merger

Two more New York Stock Exchange seat holders filed suit against the Big Board on Thursday, seeking the release of documents and records of the exchange’s merger agreement with all-electronic rival Archipelago Holdings Inc.

In addition, longtime NYSE critic William Higgins, another seat holder, filed a second lawsuit against the NYSE on Thursday in an attempt to obtain a full list of seat holders -- the owners of the privately held exchange -- which the NYSE has not provided.

Higgins filed suit last month to stop the merger, stating that the agreement’s $3-billion valuation of the exchange was too low. Higgins also questioned the role of Goldman Sachs Group Inc., the Wall Street brokerage firm that served as an advisor to both the NYSE and Archipelago.

The two additional lawsuits, filed by seat holder Robert Dill and Michael Quinn, executor of the estate of a longtime seat holder, are identical and were filed by the same law firm, Grant & Eisenhofer, that is handling Higgins’ cases. All three seat holders claim that the NYSE has rebuffed their efforts to examine details of the transaction, which they said they were entitled to view as part-owners.

“Our clients, the actual owners of the NYSE, have repeatedly been stiff-armed by the directors and officers of the exchange,” said the seat holders’ attorney, Jay Eisenhofer.

A spokesman for the NYSE had no immediate comment.

The exchange’s handling of the merger -- especially Goldman Sachs’ involvement -- has been criticized by a number of seat holders since the deal was announced April 20.