Hong Kong Exchanges Drops Bid For London Rival
October 07 2019 - 09:57PM
Dow Jones News
By Quentin Webb
Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing Ltd. abandoned its $36.6
billion attempt to take over London Stock Exchange Group PLC,
saying it couldn't pursue the deal without any input from the
target's management.
The surprise cash-and-shares proposal, unveiled in September
amid political upheaval in both Britain and Hong Kong, was quickly
r ejected by LSE's board. It would have created one of the world's
largest exchange operators, overseeing markets in London, Milan and
Hong Kong.
"Despite engagement with a broad set of regulators and extensive
shareholder engagement, the Board of HKEX is disappointed that it
has been unable to engage with the management of LSEG in realising
this vision, and as a consequence has decided it is not in the best
interests of HKEX shareholders to pursue this proposal," the Hong
Kong company said on Tuesday in a stock exchange filing.
In walking away from the deal, HKEX clears the way for LSE to
conclude its own $14.5 billion plan to acquire
financial-information and terminal company Refinitiv Holdings Ltd.
The Hong Kong group's bid was contingent on its London rival
scrapping that transaction.
Write to Quentin Webb at quentin.webb@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
October 07, 2019 21:42 ET (01:42 GMT)
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