News24
14 Sep 2020, 23:43 GMT+10
Pan-European stock market operator Euronext announced Monday it has submitted an offer to buy Milan's Borsa Italiana from the London Stock Exchange Group in partnership with Italy's CDP Equity and Intesa Sanpaolo.
Euronext, which is competing against Germany's Deutsche Boerse and Switzerland's SIX Group for the Italian stock exchange operator, said there is no certainty that the "non-binding" bid will lead to a transaction.
The potential for a bidding war over Milan's stock exchange was opened after its current owner, the London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG), said in July it was prepared to sell the subsidiary to win approval by the EU Commission of its planned purchase of US financial data provider Refinitiv.
According to sources familiar with the negotiations, Swiss market operator SIX's offer would give Borsa Italiana ample autonomy and a considerable amount of investment, including in technology.
No financial details on the offers have been released, but, according to the Bloomberg news agency, Borsa Italiana could fetch between 3.5 and 4.0 billion euros.
Italian economic news agency Radiocor cited sources close to the matter as saying that SIX's offer was the highest.
SIX is a privately-held company and is not obliged to make its offer public.
SIX could also raise its bid without seeing its own share price tumble in exchange.
In addition to operating the Milan stock exchange, Borsa Italiana also has trading platforms for government bonds, a clearing house for trading operations plus a depository, which would make it a valuable addition to all three bidders.
Euronext said last week it teaming up with Italy's CDP Equity, part of a state-held banking group, to make its bid for Borsa Italiana.
On Monday it added it would be joined by Intesa Sanpaolo, Italy's largest bank by capitalisation.
"The proposed combination of Borsa Italiana and Euronext would create a leading player in continental European capital markets, where Italy would be the largest revenue contributor to the enlarged Euronext group," it said in a statement indicating the importance of the Italian operator.
Euronext, which runs a handful of European stock exchanges including the one in Paris, has been on a shopping spree recently, buying the Danish Central Securities Depository, VP Securities, last month to expand its Nordic footprint.
It also acquired the Scandinavian electricity exchange Nord Pool in January and the Oslo Stock Exchange in June 2019.
By contrast, it decided not to buy the Madrid stock exchange, which was eventually snapped up by SIX.
Rome has said all offers will be examined closely by the government and the regulatory authorities.
Get a daily dose of Breaking Property News news through our daily email, its complimentary and keeps you fully up to date with world and business news as well.
Publish news of your business, community or sports group, personnel appointments, major event and more by submitting a news release to Breaking Property News.
More InformationBASTROP, Texas: In a surprising turn at Elon Musk's X platform, CEO Linda Yaccarino announced she is stepping down, just months after...
NEW YORK CITY, New York: Former British prime minister Rishi Sunak will return to Goldman Sachs in an advisory role, the Wall Street...
LONDON, U.K.: Physically backed gold exchange-traded funds recorded their most significant semi-annual inflow since the first half...
AMSTERDAM, Netherlands: Some 32 percent of global semiconductor production could face climate change-related copper supply disruptions...
NEW YORK, New York - U.S. stocks rebounded Tuesday with all the major indices gaining ground. Markets in the UK, Europe and Canada...
NEW YORK CITY, New York: Financial markets kicked off the week on a cautious note as President Donald Trump rolled out a fresh round...
Nurse Admits Amputating Man's Leg Without Permission UK Crime
North Carolina Sheriff Retires Amid Sexual Misconduct Charges Latest News
Detroit-Area McDonald's Employee Kills Co-Worker After Argument Latest News
Ex-NBA Player Ben McLemore Sentenced To Prison For Rape Latest News
Too far? Sunrise weatherman Sam Mac shocks co-host Natalie Barr in a VERY awkward exchange
UK Housebuilders Offer 100m To Settle CMA Probe Into Information Sharing