The London Stock Exchange Group has agreed to sell all its stake in Borsa Italiana to Euronext for €4,325 million

On October 9th, 2020, the London Stock Exchange Group has agreed to sell all its stake in Borsa Italiana to Euronext for €4,325 million. The transaction is expected to be completed within the first half of 2021. So far this is the piece of news. Back in 2008 when Borsa Italiana merged with the London Stock Exchange, our SVI Senior Partner, Daniela Carosio together with Nicoletta Schlechter, wrote a book on the merger which was presented at the Italian Stock Exchange. What was at stake in the last two decades and what is at stake now?

On October 9th, 2020, the London Stock Exchange Group has agreed to sell all its stake in Borsa Italiana to Euronext for €4,325 million. The transaction is expected to be completed within the first half of 2021.

Euronext submitted the acquisition offer jointly with Italian bank Intesa Sanpaolo and state-owned investor Cassa Depositi e Prestiti, under which the latter would acquire an 8% stake in Euronext. The deal has also defined that the regulatory oversight of Borsa Italiana will remain in Italy and that the group will have an Italian chairman.

Euronext already owns the main European stock exchanges of Paris, Amsterdam, Dublin, Oslo, Lisbon and Brussels. With the acquisition of Borsa Italiana, Euronext will create the first stock market in Europe, with over 1,800 listed companies and 4,400 billion euros in terms of aggregate capitalization of listed companies. It also creates the first European marketplace for the secondary market, with approximately 11.7 billion euros in share value traded daily, and the first European marketplace for equity financing, with over 42 billion euros raised in 2019 by investors to finance companies in Europe.

The LSE decision to sell its stake into Borsa Italiana is aimed at obtaining the approval by the antitrust authority on his $27bn bid to purchase Refinitiv, the global provider of financial market data and infrastructure.

So far this is the piece of news. Back in 2008 when Borsa Italiana merged with the London Stock Exchange, our SVI senior partner, Daniela Carosio, together with Nicolattea Schlechter, wrote a book which was presented at the Italian Stock Exchange (http://en.sustainablevalueinvestors.com/2008/06/09/stock-exchanges-and-governance-markets-regulations-and-rules-for-listing-on-piazza-affari-and-the-london-stock-exchange-il-sole-24-ore-june-2008/).

What was at stake in the last two decades and what is at stake now? Read our next piece to find out.

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