Intercontinental Exchange Inc (NYSE:ICE) Is Considering A Counter Offer for London Stock Exchange Group (LON:LSE)

Intercontinental Exchange Inc (NYSE:ICE)

Intercontinental Exchange Inc (NYSE:ICE), which is also a clearing house for the exchange, indicated about a possible counter offer for London Stock Exchange Group plc. However, the exchange said that it was yet to approach the LSEG board. Also, the company has not finalized any decision to approach the British exchange with an offer. The move has the potential to derail Deutsche Boerse AG’s possible alliance with the United Kingdom’s exchange. Following the news, shares of the London Stock Exchange advanced nearly 9% to reach 2914 pence on Tuesday’s trading.

Story continues below

Proposal Not Received

For its part, the British firm said that it was yet to receive any offer from Intercontinental Exchange Inc (NYSE:ICE). The exchange also clarified that its talks with the Deutsche Boerse were ongoing. It was Bloomberg that reported ICE’s interest first and the same report also indicated that CME group Inc (NASDAQ:CME) was working to challenge the deal that was struck between Deutsche Boerse and LSEG.

. Last week, both the British firm and the Deutsche firm confirmed that they were having discussions to establish a European trading powerhouse to fuel the firms to a similar scale like the American exchange ICE. Incidentally, the American exchange has taken a big part of the derivatives market in the Europe.

Make An Offer Not Later Than March 29

According to the current rules and regulations of the United Kingdom, Intercontinental Exchange Inc (NYSE:ICE) should make an offer for the London Stock Exchange before March 29. Similarly, Deutsche Boerse should make an offer before March 22. Alternatively, it can also disclose that it is not interested in pursuing the offer and could withdraw from the race.

Intercontinental Exchange Inc (NYSE:ICE), as well as, Deutsche Boerse could also get an extension from the regulator in the Great Britain. There are also possible suitors for the LSEG like Hong Kong Stock Exchange, and Euronext NV. Any merger could mean consolidation among the exchanges and extend their footprint.

An ad to help with our costs