A report in Britain’s Daily Telegraph on Thursday that the Singapore Exchange (SGX) was in talks to buy the London Stock Exchange (LSE) was denied by the former on Friday. Last week the two exchanges reached an agreement to allow customers to trade blue-chip stocks on both platforms.
Reuters reported Friday that the Telegraph had posted its report about a potential 7.2 billion-pound ($11.3 billion) merger on its website Thursday. LSE shares Friday were below the takeover price cited in the article, indicating that markets placed little credence in the report.
On Friday SGE issued a statement that said in part, “SGX has not engaged in talks with the LSE on a potential merger. However, we are open to collaborations and partnerships which may benefit our shareholders and the company.”
SGX and LSE had teamed up to try to buy the largest metals exchange in the world, the London Metal Exchange, just last month, although in that transaction Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing emerged victorious.
Magnus Boecker, head of SGX, said in the report that further partnerships were not out of the question, although rather than mergers and acquisitions, they were more likely to be in the arena of “products and services.”