Carsten Kengeter, CEO of Deutsche Boerse. REUTERS/Kai Pfaffenbach FRANKFURT (Reuters) - German prosecutors said on Thursday their investigation of Deutsche Boerse Chief Executive Carsten Kengeter for suspected insider trading related to talks held between the group's management and the London Stock Exchange between July/August and December 2015.

Prosecutors searched offices at Deutsche Boerse's headquarters in Eschborn near Frankfurt on Wednesday in connection with a €4.5 million ($4.85 million) purchase of Deutsche Boerse shares by Kengeter in December 2015, just over two months before Boerse and LSE announced merger talks.

The Frankfurt prosecutor's office said in a statement that the search was meant to help clear up the course of talks up to February 23, 2016, when the two companies confirmed they were in negotiations for a merger.

London Stock Exchange Group and Deutsche Boerse confirmed plans for a £20 billion merger last March.

($1 = 0.9274 euros)

(Reporting by Maria Sheahan; Editing by Christoph Steitz)