Financial powerhouse Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), owner of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), has announced that it is looking into the possibility of making an offer for the acquisition of London Stock Exchange Group (LSE), which is, interestingly, currently in merger talks with German financial firm Deutsche Boerse AG.
With ICE entering the picture, the possible acquisition of the LSE has become much more interesting. Though the Atlanta-based financial juggernaut has stated that it is simply considering making an offer for the LSE and that it has not decided if it will make an offer, the sheer prospect of the firm's involvement has immediately affected the LSE's shares.
LSE's shares, which had a market capitalization of about $13 billion as of Monday trading, surged to a record-high 8.8 percent on Tuesday morning.
Sources, who have opted to remain anonymous, have stated that despite Deutsche Boerse being the first firm to attempt a takeover of the LSE, ICE believes that the British firm's shareholders might be swayed by a higher offer.
If any, the sheer presence of the ICE has now placed a significant amount of pressure on Deutsche Boerse, which, due to the threat of a more attractive offer from ICE would possibly increase its bid in order to persuade the LSE to stick with a partnership with the German financial firm.
Despite the attractive prospect of ICE merging with the LSE, however, it is quite unlikely that the American financial giant would be able to make a move before March 22, which is the deadline that was set for Deutsche Boerse's final offer to the LSE. If the German financial firm can not make an appropriate offer by March 22, it would be forced to either cancel its attempts at acquiring the LSE or obtain an extension from the U.K.'s mergers regulator.
If the LSE and Deutsche Boerse goes through with the merger, the combined companies would create a presence in the financial market that is on par with the ICE, which has recently taken a significant portion of the European derivatives market.
