The potential tie-up between London Stock Exchange (LSE) and Deutsche Börse looks set to be gatecrashed by US group Intercontinental Exchange barely a week after confirmation of negotiations.
The US group said this week it was looking at a proposal, but had not yet approached the board of the LSE, adding "there can be no certainty that any offer will be made".
The London group said its discussions with its would-be European partner regarding what it has dubbed its "merger of equals" have continued.
Merger talks between the pair fell through in 2000, while LSE fought off Deutsche's follow-up takeover attempt in late 2004. A decade ago, LSE also had to fight off bids from EuroNext and Nasdaq before turning acquirer itself with the purchase of Borsa Italia in 2007 and US index specialist Frank Russell & Company in 2014.
Given the likely very large competition hurdles which may need to be overcome, we recommend investors hold for now.
