LSE scuppers Deutsche Boerse merger hopes

LONDON/FRANKFURT: The London Stock Exchange has all but ended a planned merger with Deutsche Boerse to create Europe’s biggest stock exchange by ruling out a European antitrust demand, saying it has strong prospects alone.

In a bid to create a European trading powerhouse that would better compete against US rivals making inroads on their home turf, the two exchanges struck a 29 billion euro ($30.1 billion) deal just over a year ago.

If the merger fails, it will be the latest in a series of doomed efforts at dealmaking by stock exchanges and the likely breakdown of the latest attempt disappointed investors, with shares in Deutsche Boerse tumbling more than 4 per cent in early trading and London Stock Exchange shares down 3 per cent.

In a highly unusual step, the London Stock Exchange (LSE) on Sunday preempted a European Commission antitrust decision, saying it was unlikely to give clearance for the merger after the London bourse had refused to sell an electronic trading platform in Italy.

A deal would now only be possible if the Commission, which declined to comment, were to change its demands — an outcome that is unlikely given its approach in other mergers.