Former Credit Suisse honcho John Mack is reported to be throwing in with Kennoth Langone to put together a rival bid for the NYSE. USA Today reported Tuesday that Mack is an advisor on the deal and attended a Langone held with roughly a dozen Wall Street executives.

Langone has also signed on Duquesne Capital Management chief Stanley Druckenmiller as part of his efforts. Dequesne hosted Monday's meeting, which according to USA Today, involved executives from Merrill Lynch, Lehman Bros., Bear Stearns and J.P. Morgan Chase. The Wall Street Journal adds that ten firms were at the meeting, but adds no new names in its report.

The WSJ does add that Langone asked the firms to decide today about whether they will name a representative to participate in a study of the NYSE-Archipelago deal.

The New York Times throws further light on Merrill Lynch's role in the bidding war, reporting that Merrill CEO E. Stanley O'Neal called NYSE CEO and former Goldman chief John A. Thain after the deal was announced last Wednesday to express his displeasure at Goldman's role in putting it together. O'Neal said Goldman's brokering the deal was "inappropriate,” according to the Times.

The Times also reports that ex-NYSE CEO Richard Grasso is playing no role in the rival bidding group.

The rival group is trying to raise at least $3 billion in order to head off the $3.2 billion NYSE-Archipelago deal announced last week.

Both deals would value a NYSE seat at roughly $2.7 million, a fifty percent premium to the $1.8 million seats changed hands for before the deal and a little more than the record $2.65 million paid for a seat in 1999. The sale is already being priced into the value of the seats. On Monday, a seat sold for $2.4 million. As recently as January, a seat sold for just $975,000.  

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