LSE/Deutsche Boerse: talk of CME bid for LCH SA dubbed premature

2 December 2016 — Parties involved in London Stock Exchange’s [LON:LSE] sale of France-based clearing house LCH SA consider talk of CME Group’s [NASDAQ:CME] involvement as a front-running bidder for the asset to be premature, two sources familiar with the matter have told this news service.

The Sunday Times reported on 27 November that CME had lodged a more than GBP 340m bid for LCH SA and that New York City-based stock exchange Nasdaq [NASDAQ:NDAQ] was also weighing an offer for the asset.

However, the sources played down the level of CME’s involvement in the sale process at this stage.

The sale of LCH SA is entirely dependent on the completion of the GBP 21bn merger between LSE and German counterpart Deutsche Boerse [ETR:DB1], which is unlikely to reach a conclusion until 2H17…