It may be April Fools’ day tomorrow, but Clara Furse certainly isn’t one of them. A list of the failed suitors for the London Stock Exchange on her watch doesn’t quite outnumber the field for the Derby, but it’s lengthening impressively:

* Nasdaq
* Macquarie Bank
* Euronext
* Deutsche Borse
* OMX

They would certainly make up a good Selling Plate.

Who then will Clara go for? Or, alternatively, lie back and think of England for?

This blog favours the former course, and now only one candidate remains: OMX Gruppen, the Swedish exchange that launched an audacious bid for the LSE a few years back.

Come on, Clara, go for it. It would make the LSE bid-proof and reinforce the City of London as the premier financial centre in the world.

England expects.

Reuters is reporting that Nasdaq has dropped its £2.4 billion offer for the London Stock Exchange.

“But the second-biggest U.S. stock exchange operator left the door open to a tie-up in the future, saying it might make an offer under certain circumstances, such as if the London Stock Exchange (LSE) agreed to a deal, or a rival bidder emerged.

“LSE shares fell 6.8 percent to 1,023 pence in London, valuing the exchange at around 2.6 billion pounds ($4.50 billion). But they remained well above Nasdaq’s cash offer proposal of 950p as industry observers continued to believe the London exchange may eventually succumb to a bid, or take a more active role in the industry’s consolidation.

“LSE shares have soared to as high as 1,219-1/2p since Nasdaq’s approach was unveiled on hopes Nasdaq might improve its proposal, or that a rival suitor, such as the NYSE Group, might enter the fray.

“Industry observers thought the NYSE would be in no rush to make any bid for the LSE, as it is tied up with a secondary share offering, integrating its recent acquisition of trading platform Archipelago and introducing its “hybrid” market, which will bring more automation onto the floor.”

Is the London Stock Exchange prodding Nasdaq to raise its £2.4 billion ($4.2bn) bid for the LSE? The Guardian suggests today that this may be the case.

The British newspaper cites yesterday’s upbeat trading statement from the exchange that, “the average daily volume of trades on its SETS electronic platform was 216,000 in the 11 months to February 28, up 29 percent on the previous year.”

In the statement, Clara Furse, CEO, reflected that the LSE was on course for “excellent” annual results. “Since January, trading had improved further, and was up 38% on the previous year.”

The LSE has rejected the Nasdaq offer, believing it undervalues the business.

Clearly, the 308-year-old exchange is stirring the pot of competition and looking for the highest value bid. However, as we reported on Monday, a takeover of Swedish exchange OMX might be the best long-term result both for the LSE and its client base, and for the continuing pre-eminence of the City of London as the world’s premier financial centre.

Will the latter consideration figure in the decisions of the principal shareholders? If it doesn’t, the regulators should step in. That’s why they’re there.

Five years ago the Swedish stock exchange, OMX Gruppen, had the temerity to make a bid for the London Stock Exchange. The approach was resisted because OMX shareholders failed to support the move.

Now, with problematical bids for the LSE coming in from Nasdaq and possibly the New York Stock Exchange, Clara Furse has a winding road to tread which might include a hostile takeover of the Swedes.

In Europe, Deutsche Borse and Euronext are considering a tie-up. Together, they would have little trouble swallowing the LSE in its current position. But if Clara could absorb OMX, the LSE would slip into the Footsie 100 and become relatively immune to takeover bids.

Currently, the LSE is worth £2.9 billion ($5bn), with the Swedish exchange standing at £1.3bn ($2.3bn). A move would benefit both since it’s in no-one’s interests to have a much larger competitor eyeing up its rivals outside the Eurozone.

Expect to hear more talk of this in the weeks to come.