By Costas Paris in London and P.R. Venkat in Singapore 

Singapore Exchange Ltd. is in exclusive talks to buy Baltic Exchange Ltd., in a move that could see another venerable London marketplace end up in foreign hands.

In simultaneous releases in Singapore and London, the two exchanges said they would be in exclusive talks until the end of June.

"We will know whether the deal will work out over the next two weeks or so," said a person involved in the matter. "The Baltic is expected to yield up to $120 million."

The Baltic Exchange is a centuries-old compiler of freight rates and maritime market information. In its statement Wednesday, the Singapore Exchange, known as SGX, said that the proposed transaction would bring together complementary strengths of Singapore and London, two of the world's most important maritime hubs.

SGX was a late entrant in the race for the Baltic. Other suitors included Platts, a division of S&P Global Inc.; CME Group Inc., the operator of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange; and state-run conglomerate China Merchants Group, the person involved said.

If the deal is sealed, the transaction would represent the second recent sale of a storied London exchange to an Asian operator. In 2012, Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing Ltd. bought the London Metal Exchange.

Shareholders of London Stock Exchange Group PLC, the U.K.'s main marketplace, will vote on a proposed $30 billion merger with German rival Deutsche Börse AG after Britain's June 23 referendum on whether it will stay in the European Union.

The 272-year-old Baltic Exchange is credited with helping expand British trade during the country's imperial heyday. Founded in 1744, it grew out of one of the many coffee shops concentrated in the City of London, the capital's historic trading center, where merchants congregated to conduct business.

It matured into a more formal market and was later credited as a driving force in Britain's rise as a global trading power, matching merchants with shipowners and serving as a venue for traders to swap tips and information.

More recently, the exchange pioneered a derivatives market linked to freight. The Baltic Freight Index was launched in 1985, and was followed by a series of other freight market indexes, used to trade and settle shipping freight contracts. The Baltic Dry Index, for instance, provides daily freight rates for dry-bulk cargoes such as iron ore, coal, cement and grains. The index has long served as a benchmark for the health of the shipping industry and for global trade more broadly.

For many decades, the Baltic Exchange was housed in a grand marble building in the heart of London's financial district. That building was destroyed in a bombing by the Irish Republican Army in 1992.

As modern communications and electronic trading rendered physical trading floors largely redundant, the Baltic Exchange for years held on to a reputation in London's financial district as a clubby redoubt for the pinstripe-wearing brokers of an earlier era.

Shareholders include some of the biggest players in shipping, including owners, charterers and brokers. Clarksons Platou, the world's leading provider of shipping services; Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC; Louis Dreyfus Group and some of the biggest Greek shipping magnates all hold seats.

A deal would significantly boost SGX's derivatives business and further advance Singapore's ambitions of becoming a global maritime financial center. It is also the first big acquisition attempt by Singapore Exchange since its unsuccessful, US$8 billion bid for Australian bourse operator ASX Ltd. in 2011.

Write to Costas Paris at costas.paris@wsj.com and P.R. Venkat at venkat.pr@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 25, 2016 08:11 ET (12:11 GMT)