Endorsements from leading proxy advisory firms could become the London Stock Exchange's (LSE.L) secret weapon as it offers for the widely held TMX Group (X.TO), operator of the Toronto Stock Exchange. But it's still not clear if the deal's backers will muster the two-thirds of the shares they need for the C$3.6 billion proposal to go ahead, or if shareholders will prefer a C$3.8 billion hostile offer from Maple Group, a consortium of Canadian banks and pension funds. A "No" vote for LSE at a shareholder meeting on Thursday means the Maple offer proceeds to its own shareholder vote. A "Yes" vote kills Maple's offer and leaves the LSE's friendly takeover in regulators' hands. "There are two big proxy firms that have recommended the LSE/TMX merger, and that's a big plus for that merger," said a high level Canadian competition lawyer who could not be quoted by name due to his firm's policy.
TMX Group Inc. is an integrated, multi-asset class exchange group. Shares of X traded higher by 3.0% or $1.26/share to $43.31. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $36.93 and as high as $64.03. On average, 8604990 shares of X exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 7308047.
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