NASDAQ decided to sell its stake in London Stock Exchange after failing to buy it. US stock exchange has around 31% shares in the London Stock Exchange, which are worth £797m ($1.58bn).
Earlier, NASDAQ sought to buy it and proposed a bid. To make the deal look more respectable, NASDAQ bought shares in LSE for £11 each, but shareholders foiled its all steps and rejected the offer in February. However, by selling LSE’s stakes NASDAQ could make profit of more than $240m.
After failing to buy LSE, the second-biggest U.S. equity exchange is preparing a new bid for OMX of Sweden, which is already proposed by Borse Dubai. After disheartening from the LSE, OMX is a good chance to fulfill its dream to expand in European markets as it has exchanges in Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Iceland and the Baltic nations.
NASDAQ is looking for a buyer for its LSE’s stake and would use about $1 billion of the proceeds to retire debt and the rest to buyback shares. The sale will increase earnings per share by as much as 35 cents next year. NASDAQ stocks rose 2% to $32 in New York, whereas LSE shares gained 2.4% to £13 in London.
Via: BBC
