Hong Kong vows to chase London Stock Exchange after £32bn bid rejected
Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEX) has vowed to pursue a takeover of the London Stock Exchange (LSE) after its £32bn bid was unanimously rejected by the board.
Read more: London Stock Exchange rejects Hong Kong takeover bid
HKEX said its proposal offered a “highly compelling strategic opportunity to create a global market infrastructure leader”.
The bourse said it believed shareholders should have the opportunity to analyse the offer, and said it would continue to engage with them.
The statement comes hours after LSE roundly rejected Hong Kong’s offer, saying it saw “no strategic merit” to the move.
Any takeover by HKEX would be subject to LSE ditching its $27bn (£22bn) merger with Refinitiv, a move that would enable the exchange to rival data provider Bloomberg.
LSE said it remained committed to its merger with Refinitiv, and slammed HKEX for publishing its offer two days after it was received.
In a terse statement this afternoon, the Hong Kong exchange hit back at LSE for its rejection.
Read more: Sajid Javid could block Hong Kong bid for London Stock Exchange
“The board of HKEX had hoped to enter into a constructive dialogue with the board of LSE to discuss in detail the merits of its proposal and are disappointed that LSE has declined to properly engage,” the company said.
Main image credit: Getty