London Stock Exchange, Deutsche Börse Agree to $30 Billion Merger

By Ian Walker 

London Stock Exchange Group PLC and Deutsche Börse AG on Wednesday agreed to an all-share merger, creating Europe's biggest securities-markets operator worth more than $30 billion.

Under the merger, a new U.K. company will be formed--UK TopCo--of which 45.6% will be owned by LSE shareholders with Deutsche Börse shareholders owning the rest.

LSE shareholders will get 0.4421 UK TopCo shares for each share held, and Deutsche Börse shareholders will get one UK TopCo share for each of their shares.

The combined company will be worth about $30.5 billion based on Tuesday's closing share prices.

The two exchange operators announced last month that they were in talks. Since then, U.S. rival Intercontinental Exchange Inc., the operator of the New York Stock Exchange, has said it was considering making an offer for LSE. Chicago's CME Group Inc. might also be in the running, according to a person familiar with the matter. Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing Ltd. has said it is closely watching the discussions between LSE and Deutsche Börse.

Write to Ian Walker at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 16, 2016 03:38 ET (07:38 GMT)

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