LONDON: Intercontinental Exchange, the owner of the New York Stock Exchange, said on Wednesday that it had no plans to make an offer for the London Stock Exchange Group.
The announcement removes one potential rival to a planned merger between the London Stock Exchange and Deutsche Börse, which confirmed they were in discussions in February and agreed to merge in an all-stock deal in March.
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Deutsche Börse and the London Stock Exchange are aiming to create a European champion in a rapidly consolidating industry, but analysts have speculated that the deal could be undone by a rival bid from Intercontinental Exchange, also known as ICE, or from another exchange operator. ICE said in March that it was considering its own move for the London exchange.
The CME Group — which operates the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, the Chicago Board of Trade and the New York Mercantile Exchange — and Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing have also been seen as potential bidders.
“Following due diligence on the information made available, ICE determined that there was insufficient engagement to confirm the potential market and shareholder benefits of a strategic combination,” ICE said on Wednesday.
Shares of the London Stock Exchange dropped nearly 8 percent in trading on Wednesday afternoon after the announcement.
The potential merger between the London Stock Exchange and Deutsche Börse comes at a politically charged time, as Britons prepare to vote in June on whether to leave the European Union.
The London Stock Exchange and Deutsche Börse have said that an exit by Britain would not change the deal, but that it could “well affect the volume or nature” of business carried out by the combined company.
The merger would allow London, which has served as a financial gateway to Europe, to maintain economic ties to the Continent. The companies say they hope to complete the deal by the first quarter of next year.
The combined company would be based in Britain and would have headquarters in London and in Frankfurt, the home of Deutsche Börse.
Four years ago, Deutsche Börse abandoned plans to merge with the parent of the New York Stock Exchange after European antitrust regulators threatened to block the deal. This is the third attempt to combine the London Stock Exchange and Deutsche Börse since 2000
