Wallace Ho15 Sep, 2019

London Stock Exchange (LSE) has rejected Hong Kong Exchange’s (HKEX) takeover offer of $36.8 billion last Friday.

HKEX had proposed £20.45 a share in cash for the deal, as well as 2.495 newly issued HKEX shares.

The LSE said in a statement that it has fundamental concerns about key aspects of HKEX's proposal, further emphasizing problems in its “strategy, deliverability, form of consideration, and value".

CEO of HKEX, Charles Li.

LSE has also published a letter addressed to HKEX’s Chairperson Laura Cha and Chief Executive Charles Li stating that it was "surprised and disappointed" that the Hong Kong Exchange had published its “unsolicited proposal” within two days of making the LSE aware of their takeover plans.



LSE Chairman Don Robert mentioned that the ongoing political situation in Hong Kong could make any deal unattractive to shareholders, also stating that the price offered by HKEX falls short of how LSE values the business.

″...Even assuming your proposal were deliverable, its value falls substantially short of an appropriate valuation for a takeover of LSEG, especially when compared to the significant value we expect to create through our planned acquisition of Refinitiv,” it said.