Singapore Exchange Bids for London's Baltic Exchange

SINGAPORE—Singapore Exchange Ltd. on Thursday said it has made an offer to buy the Baltic Exchange for 77.6 million British pounds ($103.4 million), a deal that could lead to another historic London marketplace ending up in foreign hands.

Singapore Exchange said it has offered to pay £ 160.41 for each Baltic Exchange share in cash. The Baltic's shareholders will also receive at least £ 18.80 a share in cash as a final dividend, Singapore Exchange said in a statement. The offer is subject to the approval of the Baltic's shareholders.

Singapore Exchange and the Baltic Exchange had entered into exclusive talks on May 25.

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

The Baltic Exchange is a 272-year-old shipping marketplace 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. The Wall Street Journal on Wednesday reported that a deal was likely to be announced soon.

The deal would significantly boost Singapore Exchange'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, $8 billion bid for Australian exchange operator ASX Ltd. in 2011.

Write to Gaurav Raghuvanshi at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

August 04, 2016 08:15 ET (12:15 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.