Finextra – Pan-European exchange Euronext is under pressure from one of its largest shareholders to drop its takeover bid for the London Stock Exchange and kick-start merger talks with Deutsche Börseinstead.
US hedge fund Atticus Capital – which says it now owns a 9.1% stake in Euronext – has cast doubt over a possible merger between the European exchange operator and LSE after saying it would “support a friendly merger of equals between Euronext and Deutsche Börse”.
In a statement, David Slager, senior portfolio manager at Atticus, says a merger between the two “would create a formidable Euro zone champion with the resources and franchise to compete for global liquidity and global listings”.
“Significant cost savings would benefit both shareholders and customers of the merged company, making the European capital markets more efficient,” he adds.
