Macquarie Bank considers LSE bid

Macquarie Bank of Australia is considering a joint bid for the London Stock Exchange (LSE). In a statement to the Australian Stock Exchange, Macquarie emphasised that plans are at an early stage.

The London Stock Exchange has been considered a potential acquisition target for a number of years. Other possible bidders include European exchange Euronext, Germany’s Deutsche Boerse and OMX, the Scandinavian stock market operator.

The LSE issued a statement saying that it had “received no formal approach from Macquarie Group”. It said that its strong first-quarter results “reinforce the Board’s confidence in the Exchange’s growth prospects as an independent group”.

Macquarie Bank is known as the “millionaires factory” because of the huge bonuses it pays. It was originally called Hill Samuel Australia, after UK-based Hill Samuel established the firm, but changed its name to Macquarie Bank in 1985. In the first quarter of 2005 it was Australia’s top mergers and acquisitions adviser.

The Bank already holds interests in UK assets including a toll section of the M6 motorway and airports in Bristol and Birmingham. It manages 91bn Australian dollars of assets worldwide.

Competing bids for the LSE could increase the price of a takeover, but the Competition Commission has expressed concern that a takeover by Euronext or Deutsche Boerse, the only other major exchanges in Europe, would lessen competition by leaving the buyer in control of the LSE’s clearing services.