HK Exchange Bids for LSE in a $36.6bn Blockbuster; A Political Takeover from China?

Today, September 11, 2019, reporter has stated that Hong Kong Exchange and Clearing Ltd. (HKEX) has made an unexpected bid for London Stock Exchange Group Plc. (LSE). If HKEX actually take over LSE, it would have a huge impact on the transformational deal in European Exchange.

The bid that HKEX offers is about $36.6 billion (approx. 1.12 trillion baht) while HKEX Chief Executive Officer Charles Li said that the Asian bourse operator had considered the ‘ambitious and far-reaching’ deal for many months.

The offer from HKEX was made just weeks after LSE agreed to purchase Refinitiv, a data provider, in a $27 billion blockbuster agreement. However, LSE has yet to comment on this matter.

Ronald Wan, chief executive at Partners Capital International Ltd. in Hong Kong said that this could be seen as a takeover from China as Hong Kong is a special administrative region of China. The deal is very politically sensitive.