China Merchants Group makes informal bid for London’s Baltic Exchange, according to sources
China Merchants Group has made an informal bid for London’s Baltic Exchange, according to sources.
It emerged in February that the Baltic Exchange, a financial maritime hub located in the heart of Canada, was being eyed by several companies, including the Singapore Exchange, CME Group, Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), and Platts.
And now two sources have told Reuters that China Merchants Group, a state-run conglomerate, has made an informal offer through a subsidiary, China Merchants Securities.
Read more: String of foreign buyers circling the Baltic Exchange
One source told Reuters: "They are the latest (suitor) and certainly, with such a massive group, it shows how this is heating up.”
Japanese investment bank Nomura is advising the Baltic Exchange on a potential sale, Reuters has reported.
The Baltic Exchange, which was bombed by the IRA in 1992 and is now based next to the Gherkin skyscraper, is headed up by chief executive Jeremy Penn.
A spokesman for the exchange said: "The Baltic Exchange is in confidential discussions with various third parties.
"However we will not make any further comment on parties it may or may not be in talks with."