NEW YORK: BATS Global Markets, the number-three US stock exchange operator, said Tuesday it was in talks with Brazilian asset management firm Claritas to create a new stock exchange in Brazil.

Under a signed agreement, the companies will explore "the potential creation of a new stock exchange with clearing and depository services in Brazil," BATS said in a statement.

BAT's senior vice president Ken Conklin said he hoped the move would be an "initial step" that helps to tap Brazil's rapidly growing market.

Carlos Ambrosio, senior partner at Claritas, said: "After thoroughly analyzing the benefits of competition in exchange, clearing and depository services, we are very pleased to have identified BATS as the perfect partner for this challenge.

"The Brazilian capital markets are ready for access to the best technology in the world, and there is certainly no one better than BATS for the job."

The news of a potential challenger to Bovespa in Sao Paulo, the biggest exchange in South America's most powerful economy, came amid a spate of mergers in a consolidating global stock market.

On Tuesday, Deutsche Boerse said it would buy the New York Stock Exchange, the world's largest stock exchange, creating a global behemoth.

BATS Global Markets, a Kansas City, Missouri-based company founded in 2005, has become a major player among US stock exchanges, where it holds about a 10 percent market share.

The company also has a pan-European trading platform.

On Friday, BATS announced it was still talking about a buyout bid for Chi-X Europe, the second-largest stock exchange in Europe after the London Stock Exchange.

BATS and Chi-X Europe began exclusive takeover talks in December that had been due to expire that day.