2nd UPDATE: Nasdaq CFO Friedman To Leave Post

Nasdaq OMX Group Inc. (NDAQ) is poised to lose a major deal maker for the exchange company as a wave of consolidation looms over the sector.

Adena Friedman, chief financial officer for Nasdaq OMX and a key figure in its past acquisitions, is set to leave her post March 4 to join the Carlyle Group as CFO and a member of the asset manager's operating committee, based in Washington.

Ronald Hassen, controller and principal accounting officer for Nasdaq OMX, will take over as interim CFO, according to a statement from the company. Former CFO David Warren will rejoin as a special adviser to Chief Executive Bob Greifeld.

The departure of Friedman, mooted by market observers as a potential successor to Greifeld, comes as Nasdaq OMX weighs its response to a host of deals that could align some of its biggest rivals.

NYSE Euronext (NYX) and Deutsche Boerse AG (DB1.XE) revealed advanced talks last week on a merger to create a combination that would vault ahead of rivals in stock and derivatives trading, shortly after Toronto's TMX Group (X.T) and the London Stock Exchange Group PLC (LSE.LN) announced their own plan to merge.

An announcement on the NYSE-Deutsche Boerse combination is expected as early as Tuesday, according to people familiar with the matter.

Separately BATS Global Markets and Chi-X Europe remain in talks on combining the electronic market operators' European share-trading businesses, while Singapore Exchange Ltd. (S68.SG) is pursuing a deal for Australian Exchange operator ASX Ltd. (ASX.AU).

Friedman has served with Nasdaq OMX for 18 years and helped navigate Nasdaq's 2008 acquisition of Nordic exchange and technology company OMX AB, which involved striking a deal with Borse Dubai, which holds that emirate's exchange businesses.

She also played a key role in Nasdaq OMX's 2008 acquisition of the Philadelphia Stock Exchange, which helped bolster the company's position in U.S. options trading, as well as a deal in 2005 to buy the INET trading platform.

Friedman took over the CFO role in the summer of 2009 following the departure of Warren. He left amid a series of high-level departures from Nasdaq OMX that included key figures in its trading business, as well as president Magnus Bocker, who left to head Singapore Exchange Ltd.

At the Carlyle Group, Friedman will fill a position left vacant by the December departure of Peter Nachtwey, who departed the private-equity firm to join Legg Mason Inc. (LM). The Carlyle Group is seen moving toward an initial public offering, expected in 2012, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Macquarie Securities analyst Ed Ditmire saw Friedman's loss as a blow to Nasdaq OMX, as she has been "viewed by some as being well-positioned for eventual CEO consideration at Nasdaq," though the return of Warren was a positive.

Shares in Nasdaq OMX closed 5.4% higher Monday at $29.64 after hitting a 52-week high on reports that the company could join with CME Group Inc. (CME) to mount a counterbid for NYSE Euronext.

The parent of the Big Board is pursuing merger talks with Germany's Deutsche Boerse AG (DB1.XE), with the announcement of that deal seen as early as Tuesday.

-By Jacob Bunge, Dow Jones Newswires; 312-750-4117; jacob.bunge@dowjones.com

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