The bosses of the London Stock Exchange (LSE) must feel like the most popular kids in school. They're currently in advanced talks to merge with Deutsche Börse, owner of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. They're also weighing a potential rival proposal from Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), which owns the New York Stock Exchange. And CME, which operates the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, is reportedly mulling a bid.
The US suitors may be looking to scupper what LSE's management describes as an "industry-defining deal" that could threaten their dominance. But competition regulators might be reluctant to strengthen the two largest world exchanges by revenue.
Tussles between the world's major exchanges are nothing new. For instance, a rival bidder hampered Deutsche's efforts to acquire the LSE in 2005. Moreover, the New York Stock Exchange snatched the Euronext exchange from under Deutsche's nose in 2007. And there's more than pride at stake: analysts peg cost synergies from an LSE-Deutsche deal at up to €500m (£385m), which could boost the combined group's market capitalisation by more than a fifth to €30.2bn.
