ICE 'considering counterbid' for LSE to head off Deutsche Boerse takeover

Intercontinental Exchange, a US exchange group, is said to be exploring a potential counterbid for LSE

ICE believes LSE shareholders could be persuaded by a higher offer (Getty)

Days after Deutsche Boerse announced plans to merge with London Stock Exchange, Intercontinental Exchange, a US exchange group, is said to be exploring a potential counterbid.

Last week the London Stock Exchange Group, which owns index compiler FTSE, said it was engaged in talks over a “merger of equals” with Germany's Deutsche Boerse to create a global derivatives exchange of a scale to rival Hong Kong Stock Exchange in Asia or CME Group in the US.

Under the plans, the merged group would keep headquarters and listings in London but give the Frankfurt-based company's shareholders more than 54 per cent of a combined group.

The negotiations could be disrupted by Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), the owner of the New York Stock Exchange, which has appointed advisers to prepare a bid that could trump that deal, according to a Bloomberg report.

ICE believes that shareholders could be persuaded by a higher offer, the report added.

That could force Deutsche Boerse to up its own offer, which has been described as a “nil-premium” merger.

Bloomberg said ICE is unlikely to enter the fray before March 22 - the deadline for Deutsche Boerse to submit a formal offer the LSE.

The possible £20 billion deal between the LSE and Deutsche Boerse was intended to make a European exchange powerhouse that would unite the major stock markets of London, Frankfurt and Milan and rival the likes of ICE and fellow US group CME Group.