10 January 2005

Euronext and Deutsche Börse hold talks with LSE about Takeover

The London Stock Exchange (LSE) is holding talks this week with Euronext and Deutsche Böurse, who have both expressed an interest in taking over the British securities trader, LSE spokesman John Wallace told Europe Information on January 10.

The London Stock Exchange is working to a timetable of announcing a preferred takeover offer from either Deutsche Borse or Euronext by the end of January. But The Sunday Telegraph says there are concerns that the German exchange chief Werner Seifert may chose to approach LSE shareholders directly.

Mr Seifert is thought to have become increasingly frustrated at the slow pace of negotiations since Deutsche's offer of £1.35bn - or 530 pence-per-share cash offer was rejected by the LSE board on December 13.

The Sunday Times reports that Euronext is unlikely to table its £1.5bn bid until it knows it won't be called in by competition authorities. The decision of Euronext chief executive Jean-Francois Theodore is likely to frustrate Deutsche Börse which wants a quick conclusion.

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