LONDON: After nearly a year of talks about acquiring the London Stock Exchange, European bourse operator Euronext said it would consider a stock-swap merger option, beating its other two suitors Deutsche Boerse AG and Australia’s Macquarie Bank Ltd.
It is believed that Euronext were prompted by a report in the Financial Mail offering details of a supposedly secret plan by Goldman Sachs - the American bank hired by Macquarie to oversee a possible takeover.
The European bourse operator had been looking for a full takeover of the LSE but its shareholder found the price too high. In January, the company had considered making a cash bid. Shareholders who had earlier warned that they would block a cash bid are now likely to give the green signal as they get the benefit of a takeover without paying too high a price. The company had some days back obtained a clearing from the UK Competition Commission for the bid.
LSE shareholders are also expected to welcome the deal looking at the long term gains. The ‘merger-of-equals’ would raise the value of the new company to £4.36bn. In stock value it would still be behind the £6bn of its other suitor Deutshche Boerse who might soon attract a bid by New York Stock Exchange. It is believed that the NYSE chief John Thain had been looking to make a significant acquisition in Europe.
Posted
on : Mon, 21 Nov 2005 20:10 GMT | Business News
By : Paula Jenkins
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