While all the talk this week has been of a possible split between the UK and Europe, it seems that the biggest stock markets in Europe could be about to forge a closer union. On Tuesday, London Stock Exchange (LSE) and Deutsche Börse announced that they were in talks over an all-share 'merger of equals' which would create a global challenger in clearing, indices and derivatives.
We have been here before, twice. Merger talks in 2000 fell through, 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.
