TMX Group (X.TO) will enter talks with a Canadian consortium offering C$3.8 billion ($4.02 billion) to take over the operator of the Toronto Stock Exchange, opening the door for a friendly deal. TMX authorized the discussions with Maple Group Acquisition Corp about a month after the London Stock Exchange (LSE.L) abandoned a friendly bid that failed to generate enough shareholder support. TMX said it was making no recommendation to shareholders on Maple's hostile bid. To succeed, the bid needs 70 percent of TMX shares to be tendered by Aug. 8. The decision to proceed with talks "makes it more likely that Maple and TMX come to an agreement before the August 8 tender deadline," said Ed Ditmire, analyst with Macquarie Capital in New York.
TMX Group Inc. is an integrated, multi-asset class exchange group. Shares of X traded higher by 2.95% or $1.28/share to $44.65. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $39.78 and as high as $64.03. On average, 8132590 shares of X exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 6577078.
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