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US/UK: ICE attacks LSE over lost bid

 |  May 8, 2016

Jeffrey Sprecher, the head of Intercontinental Exchange, has lashed out at the leadership of the London Stock Exchange, blaming a lack of co-operation by the UK group for ICE’s decision to walk away from a potential takeover bid, reports the Financial Times.

ICE’s unexpected move sent shares in the LSE’s owner tumbling and ended months of speculation over whether the US group would launch a bid to challenge the merger between Germany’s Deutsche Börse and the LSE.

Mr Sprecher on Wednesday said that ICE’s board and advisers had tried and failed to arrange meetings through Donald Brydon, LSE’s chairman, over the past year before publicly confirming its interest in a deal in March.

“The disappointing level of engagement of the LSE ultimately did not allow us to make a complete determination of the integration benefits and their related risks that ICE would require to support a bid,” Mr Sprecher said.

Full Content: Financial Times

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