A group of Canadian banks and pension funds said on Wednesday it will take its C$3.6 billion ($3.7 billion) bid for TMX Group directly to shareholders after the exchange operator rejected the bid in favor of a friendly offer from the London Stock Exchange (LSE.L).TMX (X.TO), parent of the Toronto Stock Exchange, last week rejected the takeover bid from Maple Group and reaffirmed its support for a proposed $3 billion combination with the London Stock Exchange Group (LSE.L) that was unveiled in February. "We are disappointed that the TMX Board declined our repeated invitations to engage us in discussions," said Luc Bertrand, lead spokesman for the Maple Group and vice chairman of National Bank of Canada (NA.TO), which is one of the four Canadian banks and five pension fund managers in the group. Maple also extended an olive branch to TMX's senior management, suggesting the current leadership - including Chief Tom Kloet - could play a role in the exchange operator's future if the group's offer succeeds.
Shares of X traded higher by 1.49% or $0.66/share to $44.89. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $36.93 and as high as $64.03. On average, 9789420 shares of X exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 5736162.
Source
