France: Gov raises concerns over proposed LSE-Deutsche Boerse deal

The proposed merger of Europe’s two biggest financial market operators, London Stock Exchange Group and Deutsche Boerse poses competition issues and should also be assessed with regard to the possibility of Britain leaving the European Union, France’s economy minister said on Monday.

A merged group worth almost $30 billion would be similar in scale to the US exchange ICE, which has taken huge slices of Europe’s derivatives markets, and would leave smaller European competitors such as Euronext Paris far behind.

“We will assess the consequences in strategic terms for Paris’s financial center,” France’s Economy Minister Emmanuel Macron told reporters in Brussels.

On his way to a meeting with EU competition commissioner Margrethe Vestager, he said that the proposed deal raised competition issues.

Macron, a former investment banker, also raised doubts about the impact on the merged group if Britain elected to leave the European Union in the national referendum which is expected to take place in June.

“I think we should assess the possible consequences of a Brexit on such a merger,” he said, conceding that it is a matter of debate mostly for shareholders.

Full Content: Reuters

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