Monday, September 19, 2005
Euronext: shareholders trying to convince CEO to go for merger with Deutsche Boerse – report
19/09/2005
Story: Euronext, the bourse that operates in Paris, Amsterdam and Brussels, is seeing some important shareholders pushing chief executive Jean Francois Theodore to pursue a merger with Deutsche Boerse.
A report in the Wall Street Journal said that those shareholders are trying to convince Theodore to prefer Deutsche Boerse instead of LSE of the UK as a merger candidate. Euronext is waiting for the go ahead of the UK regulators before launching a bid on LSE. Today, WSJ said that Harris Associates, one of Euronext biggest shareholders, suggested Theodore move on Deutsche Boerse. The report said that other shareholders, among which hedge funds, share the same idea. The report quoted David Herro, chief investment officer at Harris, as saying that a deal with Deutsche Boerse makes more sense. Herro said that this is also due for price reasons since LSE is trading at GBP 5.8 per share. Herro was quoted as saying that he hasn’t discussed with Theodore price issues in the last meeting. However, he has always showed his reluctance to support a bid higher than GBP 5 a share. On Friday, LSE shares closed at GBP 5.79. LSE owns 9.82% of Euronext and 2.6% of Deutsche Boerse.
The report quoted sources familiar with Theodore's thinking that he is still willing to pursue the LSE takeover, although is not against a merger with Deutsche Boerse. However, a merger with the latter might trigger more regulatory issues than the takeover of LSE. The report also said that if Euronext changes its strategy, this might encourage players like Macquarie of Australia to move on LSE, as it had already announced in August.
The report said that Theodore needs approval of his shareholders in the case of the LSE bid and a simple majority is not enough.
Source: The Wall Street Journal Americas
Story: Euronext, the bourse that operates in Paris, Amsterdam and Brussels, is seeing some important shareholders pushing chief executive Jean Francois Theodore to pursue a merger with Deutsche Boerse.
A report in the Wall Street Journal said that those shareholders are trying to convince Theodore to prefer Deutsche Boerse instead of LSE of the UK as a merger candidate. Euronext is waiting for the go ahead of the UK regulators before launching a bid on LSE. Today, WSJ said that Harris Associates, one of Euronext biggest shareholders, suggested Theodore move on Deutsche Boerse. The report said that other shareholders, among which hedge funds, share the same idea. The report quoted David Herro, chief investment officer at Harris, as saying that a deal with Deutsche Boerse makes more sense. Herro said that this is also due for price reasons since LSE is trading at GBP 5.8 per share. Herro was quoted as saying that he hasn’t discussed with Theodore price issues in the last meeting. However, he has always showed his reluctance to support a bid higher than GBP 5 a share. On Friday, LSE shares closed at GBP 5.79. LSE owns 9.82% of Euronext and 2.6% of Deutsche Boerse.
The report quoted sources familiar with Theodore's thinking that he is still willing to pursue the LSE takeover, although is not against a merger with Deutsche Boerse. However, a merger with the latter might trigger more regulatory issues than the takeover of LSE. The report also said that if Euronext changes its strategy, this might encourage players like Macquarie of Australia to move on LSE, as it had already announced in August.
The report said that Theodore needs approval of his shareholders in the case of the LSE bid and a simple majority is not enough.
Source: The Wall Street Journal Americas
