Deutsche Börse Considers Upping LSE Bid

Deutsche Börse, operator of the Frankfurt stock exchange, said Thursday it might be prepared to improve its conditional takeover offer for the London Stock Exchange only minutes after the LSE rejected the bid as insufficient. "We may improve our offer," Deutsche Börse's chief financial officer Mathias Hlubeck told a telephone news conference just minutes after the London market issued a statement rejecting the bid. Earlier, Deutsche Börse had laid a bid of "no less than €7.65 ($9.96) per LSE share" on the table on condition that the LSE board "resolves to give an unqualified and unconditional recommendation to its shareholders to accept the offer." But the LSE board did not oblige. "The board believes firmly that this proposed pre-conditional cash offer does not recognise the inherent value in the London Stock Exchange's business, the related synergies available in a combination and the attractive growth prospects that the London Stock Exchange enjoys under its existing management team," the LSE said in a statement.