French government has competition concerns over London Stock Exchange merger – and tells European Commission: “Get involved”
The London Stock Exchange’s proposed merger with Deutsche Boerse has today come under further political pressure, with France’s government expressing competition concerns.
Since the details of the £21bn merger were set out in March, the deal has come under scrutiny from politicians in both the UK and Germany.
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Analysts are far from certain the deal will go ahead. Exane BNP Paribas has said there is more than half a chance the deal will be blocked. And Credit Suisse analysts rate its chances of securing competition approval at 50-50.
Today, France’s finance minister Michel Sapin wrote a letter to Reuters expressing the “concern of the French government on this tie-up”.
He wrote: “We have doubts about the consequences this could have for the financing of the real economy in France and Europe.
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“The merger of these two entities will result in a large group which could hold within it a majority of the tools that make our markets function efficiently.
“That poses a competition problem, and we want to make sure the European Commission gets involved to avoid a situation where a dominant position arises.”