Shock offer made for Stock Exchange
BEDTIME STORY Lydia, Mark and Denise with the patients TV STARS Mark Wright, Denise Van Outen and Lydia Bright helped budget chain Matalan launch its latest fundraising drive for the Alder Hey children’s hospital in Liverpool.
The trio teamed up with patients Abigail, 10, Jonah, six, Poppy, four, Oscar, 19 months, and Lenny, one, for a photoshoot.
All profits from the sale of Alder Hey products, including special pyjamas, will go to the charity. THE London Stock Exchange has received a politically explosive £32billion takeover offer from its Hong Kong rival. Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing claimed the tie-up would “reshape global capital markets for decades to come”. But the surprise approach risks sending shockwaves around the world – and could trigger a bidding war. The London Stock Exchange (LSE) is the company that helps underpin the UK’s capitalist system. The bid will raise concerns among politicians in the West, given Hong Kong is a “special administrative region” of China. It also comes amid ongoing protests in Hong Kong about the growing influence of neighbouring China. Charles Li, chief executive of Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing, insisted the LSE would continue to be regulated by UK authorities. He also pointed to its ownership of the London Metal Exchange since 2012, which he said had no Chinese bosses and was GALLIFORD Try saw annual profits tumble 27 per cent after losses widened in its construction arm just a day after it revealed revived talks to sell its house-building business to Bovis Homes. a “quintessentially British institution”.
Li said its LSE bid was a “vote of confidence in the UK” with Brexit looming. He also denied the timing was linked to the slump in the pound since the Brexit referendum, which triggered a wave of foreign takeover bids.
The offer is dependent on the LSE ditching a £22billion plan, announced recently, to buy data firm Refinitiv.
The approach could spark a rival bid from the US, where politicians may be spooked about China’s involvement.
Richard Hunter, head of markets at City firm Interactive Investor, said: “The proposed offer would be totemic in terms of East-West relations.”
But analyst Neil Wilson, from Markets.com, called it a “non-starter”. He said: “The UK Government may not wish to see such a vital symbol of UK financial services strength, and indeed a strategic asset, owned by foreigners.”
In 2017, EU regulators blocked a proposed £21billion merger between the LSE and Germany’s Deutsche Boerse.
In a statement, the LSE said it would consider the offer but added that it was “committed to” the Refinitiv deal. OUTSOURCING giant Serco has been given a two-year extension to its contract with the Australian government to monitor and run detention facilities in the country.