The London and Toronto stock exchanges abandoned plans for a C$3.6 billion tie-up on Wednesday, turning both into takeover targets in a world already facing a wave of exchange consolidation. The failed bid from the London Stock Exchange (LSE.L), opens the door to a hostile C$3.8 billion offer for TMX Group(X.TO) from Canada's Maple Group consortium, which promised a made-in-Canada alternative to a takeover that would have put a big domestic asset in foreign hands. It also turns the spotlight on the LSE as a target as exchanges consolidate to grow and broaden geographic reach, and to fight off rivals and new market entrants. "While the failed deal probably puts an end to TMX's M&A ambitions, other exchange operators will likely continue to look for partners. This reinforces my belief that we should expect more mergers, not less," said Ed Ditmire, New York based analyst for Macquarie Securities. <^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ TAKE A LOOK: LSE, Maple battle for TMX Graphic of TMX market share r.reuters.com/kyd89r How LSE, Maple offers stack up r.reuters.com/vys32s Global exchanges map r.reuters.com/hav32s ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^>
TMX Group Inc. is an integrated, multi-asset class exchange group. Shares of X traded higher by 5.86% or $2.54/share to $45.85. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $36.93 and as high as $64.03. On average, 8585360 shares of X exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 14499932.
Source
