Intercontinental Exchange mulls offer for London Stock Exchange

The owner of the New York Stock Exchange is considering gatecrashing the London Stock Exchange's proposed £20 billion merger plans with a possible rival bid for the British bourse.

By The Newsroom
Tuesday, 1st March 2016, 9:41 am
Updated Tuesday, 1st March 2016, 9:46 am
An information screen displaying the FTSE 100 at the London Stock Exchange Photo: Yui Mok/PA Wire
An information screen displaying the FTSE 100 at the London Stock Exchange Photo: Yui Mok/PA Wire

Intercontinental Exchange (Ice) confirmed it was mulling an offer for the London Stock Exchange (LSE), although it stressed it has not approached the group’s board and has yet to decide whether to make a bid.

The LSE, which owns index compiler FTSE, last week revealed a proposed “merger of equals” with Germany’s Deutsche Borse.

But the pair revealed their tie-up would see Deutsche Borse shareholders own more than 54 per cent of the combined group and lead to the departure of LSE chief executive Xavier Rolet.