Shareholders tell HKEX to up its offer
HONG Kong’s stock exchange has reportedly been told to find another £4bn in its war chest if it wants to acquire its London rival.
Top shareholders are demanding that the Hong Kong Exchange and Clearing (HKEX) raises the value of its blockbuster offer for the London Stock Exchange (LSE), according to the Mail on Sunday.
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Investors told the newspaper that they would not relinquish control for less than £90 a share, marking a 22 per cent premium on the LSE’s current share price of £73.80.
HKEX has been embarking on a charm offensive to woo investors, drafting in bankers to push through the cash-and-share offer.
The bourse’s £32bn offer was rejected by the LSE, which is ploughing ahead with plans of its own to snap up data provider Refinitiv for roughly £22bn.
HKEX has vowed to pursue a takeover of the LSE after its bid was unanimously rejected by the board, saying that its proposal offered a “highly compelling strategic opportunity to create a global market infrastructure leader”.
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The bourse said it believed shareholders should have the opportunity to analyse the offer, and said it would continue to engage with them. In a passionate plea to investors, HKEX chief executive Charles Li recently said that a merging of the two sides would “complete each other”.
However, on the same day LSE boss David Schwimmer appeared to take a fresh swipe at HKEX indirectly when he said that Shanghai, rather than Hong Kong, was China’s “financial centre”.
The proposal comes just two years after EU regulators blocked a proposed £21bn merger between the LSE and Germany’s Deutsche Boerse.