Asia to lead the way in the next wave of stock exchange mergers
EMERGING markets will lead the way in the next wave of exchange mergers, according to a new study by PwC.
The firm says high operating leverage and heightened competition have suppressed margins across the sector, paving the way for M&A activity.
Share trading has rocketed by a fifth in Asia over the last decade, while it has decreased by 14 per cent in the Americas and Europe.
A string of proposed bourse mergers have fallen through in the west this year, with the LSE failing to gain approval from TMX shareholders in June over their proposed merger.
Shamshad Ali, partner at PwC, said: “Talk of an end to consolidation in the stock exchange sector may be largely true for Western European markets, but Asia and Latin America are likely to see significant M&A in the future.”