The head of Euronext, the pan-European stock exchanges operator selling itself to the New York Stock Exchange , today refused to bow to pressure for a vote on a rival German tie-up.

Jean François Théodore, Euronext's chief executive, said the group would offer a recommendation to shareholders at its EGM to approve the sale to NYSE. However he refused to go further and offer a vote on a rival offer from Deutsche Börse.

Chris Hohn, chief investment officer of The Children's Investment Fund, an investor, threatened to hold a parallel meeting on the Deutsche Börse bid, if Euronext fails to include on its agenda for the EGM a motion to vote on the rival German offer.

In May Euronext shareholders voted down a proposal from Winchfield Holdings, an investor with links to hedge funds, to pursue a merger deal with Deutsche Börse.

Mr Hohn's comments came after M Théodore said Sarbanes-Oxley legislation, which has increased the regulatory burden on US-listed firms, would "never apply" to companies listed on the European exchanges of the enlarged group.

He said the group plans to set up a Netherlands-based foundation, with an independent board, to oversee any changes in regulatory arrangements and protect Euronext-listed companies.

The comments come as the group edged closer to completing the planned sale of the company to the New York Stock Exchange.

He said: "Our teams are now working actively in close co-operation with the regulatory authorities and the various stakeholders related to the proposed combination with the NYSE...This will open the way for the creation of the world's largest global exchange, with Euronext and NYSE as the founding partners,"

The part-shares deal is set to face a shareholder vote in early December, with the deal set to be finalised in the first-quarter of next year.

However the attractiveness of the deal has waned in recent weeks with a 7 per cent slide in NYSE's share price since June 1.

At the beginning of this month Deutsche Börse, which has made a rival offer for Euronext, claimed the weakening of NYSE's share price made the German group's offer more valuable. The Euronext rival said its planned deal, which would keep Euronext in European hands, would value Euronext at €72.2 a share, against NYSE's €68.8 a share, as at August 4.

A summer of stock market volatility drove a near doubling of first-half profits at Euronext, the group reported today, on a surge in trading of equities and derivatives.

Net profits at the pan-European stock exchanges operator rose 97 per cent to €193.7 million (£131 million) in the six months to June 30, on revenues up 20.9 per cent at €557.7 million.

However the group said charges relating to its proposed acquisition by NYSE weighed on numbers. The company paid €12.7 million of investment banking and legal fees relating to the NYSE deal and paid out a total of €23.3 million in total advisory costs including other deals it completed in the period.

The improvement in profits was driven by a 49 per cent surge in cash equities trading business. Profits at the division rose to €150 million, while profits from derivatives trading increased 26 per cent to €205 million.

M Théodore said the results gave further confirmation of the company's strategy of bringing together different stock exchanges. He said record volumes in both its equities and derivatives markets reflect "the success of consolidation and integration combined with diversification of products and activities".

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