Jacques Chirac waded into the battle for Euronext on Tuesday by saying a “Franco-German solution” with Deutsche Börse would be better than the recently agreed merger between the Paris-based stock exchange operator and the New York Stock Exchange.

The French president’s comments come amid growing anxiety about the $10bn takeover among Euronext’s large shareholders and users in Paris, and could encourage Deutsche Börse, the NYSE’s German rival, to counter-bid. Some Euronext shareholders have already criticised the “sudden rush” to cement the deal with NYSE.