The London Stock Exchange (LSE) has rejected the surprise £32bn offer received from Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEX) and cut off hopes of further talks.
The City of London’s historic share dealing centre said it had ‘fundamental concerns’ about how the deal would work, the long-run strategy and its value to shareholders.
‘The board has fundamental concerns about the key aspects of the conditional proposal: strategy, deliverability, form of consideration and value. Accordingly, the board unanimously rejects the conditional proposal and, given its fundamental flaws, sees no merit in further engagement.’
LSE shares nudged 1.4% higher to £73.56.
FOCUS ON REFINITIV
Instead the LSE plans to push ahead with its $27bn acquisition of data and trading group Refinitiv. Experts believe buying Refinitiv is the LSE’s way to compete with the likes of Bloomberg in an ever data reliant environment.
The rebuff does not come as a surprise with several analysts expressing their concerns about the underlying strategic rationale or the value to LSE shareholders.
But some see the HKEX offer as a possible starting gun for other possible LSE buyers to start circling.
The HKEX deal valued LSE at £83.61 per share, a 22.9% premium to the closing price before the offer was made public.
