LSE investors back cash return
The London Stock Exchange secured the support of its investors today to return £510m and fulfil a key plank of its defence against a hostile takeover bid.
The LSE offered to distribute the cash to shareholders in return for their support against a £1.5bn bid from Australian bank Macquarie earlier this year.
At a special meeting today, 99.68% of investors that took part in a ballot agreed that the payout should be made.
Interest in the LSE remains significant and reports today said the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) was canvassing institutional investors on whether they would be interested in selling their stakes.
The NYSE has long been viewed by analysts as a potential bidder and is believed to have been forced into action by the purchase of a 15% stake in the LSE by rival Nasdaq.
In a regulatory filing in the United States on Friday, the NYSE said it was “currently engaged in discussions with certain participants, although no definitive terms have been discussed or agreements reached”.
At the same time, it pointed out it would need to respond to “potential opportunities quickly and decisively”.
The Financial Times reported the NYSE talks and said Nasdaq was also speaking to LSE investors after restrictions on buying additional shares above the 15% stake it bought last week were lifted.
Nasdaq – home to internet search engine Google – has already tabled a 950p-a-share proposal worth £2.43bn and been rebuffed.
The LSE has previously told shareholders that it is willing to hold talks with rival exchanges to create value, although it has not said how this would be achieved.
Price could be a sticking point as the LSE said earlier this month that 1198.5p for each of its shares did not “fully reflect the shift in its growth prospects, its unique franchise or the strategic options available to it”.
Shares in the LSE were changing hands for 1244.5p each today.
