Posted in Clara Furse, Deutsche Borse, LSE, London Stock Exchange, Macquarie Bank, Nasdaq, OMX on June 25th, 2008
Clara Furse, the first woman Chief Executive of the London Stock Exchange, has been honoured in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list as a Dame Commander of the British Empire (DBE), “for services to the financial services industry”.
Clara Furse, LSE Chief Executive.
Mrs Furse, who successfully saw off unwanted takeover approaches for the exchange from Nasdaq, Deutsche Borse, OMX and others, will receive the equivalent of a Knighthood for her efforts.
Other business leaders recognised in the awards with Knighthoods include Michael Snyder, the former Chairman of the City of London Corporation’s policy and resources committee, and Moir Lockhead, who transformed the regional bus company, FirstGroup.
Posted in Clara Furse, Deutsche Borse, Euronext, London Stock Exchange, Macquarie Bank, Nasdaq on March 31st, 2006
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.
Posted in Clara Furse, Deutsche Borse, Euronext, London Stock Exchange, Macquarie Bank, Nasdaq on March 12th, 2006
Nasdaq launched a surprise £2.4 billion ($4.1 billion) bid for the London Stock Exchange on Friday. Clara Furse, CEO, responded sharply by stating that the offer was “unexpected and unwelcome”.
A statement from the LSE Board said the proposal — which represents an 8 percent premium to the current market price — “substantially undervalues the company”.
The LSE reiterated that it was still on track to return £510m ($883m) to shareholders, a promise it made after fighting off the Macquarie Bank bid.
“The board has rejected this unsolicited approach and intends to continue with its proposed 200p-per-share ($3.50) capital return.”
Nasdaq returned fire after the rejection by saying it had made an “attractive offer” with “unique benefits” unmatched by other would-be buyers.
“Nasdaq and LSE are both pre-eminent equity markets in their respective countries,” the New York-based technology exchange said in a statement.
“Nasdaq believes that bringing together the two organizations would present listed companies, traders and investors with an equity marketplace, based on dynamic industry leadership to serve their needs, unmatched by any other marketplace in the world.”
Shares in the LSE closed up 1.9 percent at 880p ($15.2) on Friday before the announcement was made, while Nasdaq shares jumped more than 10% to close at $43.56.
Analysts pointed out that a merger of the two companies could generate massive costs savings as it would eventually lead to a single trading platform.
It’s believed that the US bid would not face the same hurdles as Euronext and Deutsche Borse. The British Treasury is known to favour Nasdaq as a partner for the LSE as it would give Britain a strong foothold in the booming American technology market.
