The London Stock Exchange has become a credible takeover target as it faces a battle to merge with its Toronto counterpart and after NYSE Euronext beat off a hostile approach, analysts said. LSE Group, led by chief executive Xavier Rolet, insists it is committed to a merger with its Toronto counterpart, TMX Group, after a Canadian consortium launched an informal takeover bid that could derail the deal. As LSE weighed up its next move, Nasdaq OMX and Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) abandoned their hostile takeover bid for NYSE Euronext, opening the way for the New York exchange’s merger with German powerhouse Deutsche Boerse. All this, searching for the right merger and the ensuing economies of scale sets up a possible takeover approach for LSE, according to some analysts. The “announcement of Nasdaq/ICE withdrawing its offer and the interloping deal on TMX makes LSE a credible target.
