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US: ICE CEO says Brexit uncertainty helped sink LSE counterbid

By  |  August 4, 2016

Intercontinental Exchange Inc was “fortunate” to have scrapped a potential counterbid for the London Stock Exchange in May, ahead of Britain’s vote to leave the European Union, the head of the New York Stock Exchange operator said on Wednesday.

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    ICE would have had to make its bid to derail LSE’s planned $27 billion merger with Deutsche Boerse just ahead of the June 23 referendum, which ICE’s management expected would result in “Brexit,” or the UK leaving the EU, Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey Sprecher said on a quarterly earnings conference call.

    “We decided given that we didn’t have good information and given that we thought the landscape was going to change that it was not an appropriate time for us to do a transaction,” he said. “I will tell you that I think we were fortunate in making that decision.”

    ICE, which has futures and clearing operations in Europe, earlier on Wednesday reported a better-than-expected second-quarter profit, with net income up 26 percent at $357 million, or $2.98 per share, from $283 million, or $2.54 per share, a year earlier.

    Market volatility following the Brexit vote helped boost volumes for exchange operators in the quarter.

    The LSE-Deutsche Boerse merger has received backing from the shareholders of both companies, but it remains unclear whether the deal will get approval from financial regulators in Germany and Britain, along with European Union antitrust authorities.

    Full Content: Financial Times

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