Companies
London Stock Exchange remains independent
The London
Stock Exchange (LSE) has seen off its fourth
prospective partner, with US rival
Nasdaq receiving only a 0.41% take-up for its
£12.43 a share offer. Bob Greifeld, Nasdaq chief executive, said the US exchange
was disappointed at this conclusion, but took some solace from remaining true to
its valuation of the LSE.
However, Nasdaq retains a 29.16% stake in the LSE, and as
its largest shareholder said it would be closely monitoring how the London
market is affected by MiFID. MiFID is expected to clear the way for competition
in the European securities markets. For the LSE this comes most notably in the
shape of Project Turquoise, a trading platform being developed by a number of
investment banks.
Lombard in the Financial Times (10/11
February) warned against drawing any conclusions about who has won this
confrontation: the real winner, said Lombard – whether Nasdaq, a rival bidder,
an entirely new platform or the LSE itself – will likely only become apparent
over the next 12 months.
Links
London
Stock Exchange
Nasdaq
Financial Times
March 2007
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