News Digest

Fears over Brexit brushed aside as stock exchanges push ahead with merger

Deutsche Boerse and the London Stock Exchange agreed on Wednesday to press ahead with their planned merger to create one of the world’s biggest exchanges. The two operators said that they planned to proceed with their “merger of equals” under the terms already drawn up. They also insisted the tie-up would succeed irrespective of the outcome of the looming Brexit vote on Britain’s future in the European Union. The announcement comes as US-based global markets operator Intercontinental Exchange, which owns the New York Stock Exchange, is mulling a rival bid for the LSE.

The company and the structure of the transaction is such that we’ll have a successful merger irrespective of the outcome

Deutsche Boerse chief executive Carsten Kengeter denies the Brexit vote will have an effect

The deal, expected to complete by the end of this year or in the first quarter of 2017, will mean shareholders of the German company owning just over half of the combined business. It is the third tie-up attempt after two earlier failed bids in 2000 and 2004. Deutsche Boerse chief executive Carsten Kengeter insisted the tie-up was “the right transaction at the right time for both of our companies. Deutsche Boerse and LSE are the right fit”. The combination would “deliver more than the sum of its parts”, he added. And LSE chief Xavier Rolet said that he “100% backed” the plans, but neither made any reference to ICE’s rival offer.