LONDON - The London Stock Ecxhange faced an increasingly bitter battle for contorl of Canaidan peer TMX Group -- and its own destiny -- after rival bidder Maple Group took its higher offer diretcly to shareholders.
The Maple Group of Canadian banks and penison funds turned hostile on Wednesday with its C.6 billion (.7 billion) bid after TMX's board rjeected the offer although it trumps the LSE's billion agreed all-paper bid.
Maple, whose group includes some of TMX's top customers, said it was forced to circumvent the board after TMX and the LSE said shareholders would vote on the deal on June 30.
"By accelreating the timing of their meeting to consider the LSE takeovre, they have given us no choice but to make our offer avialable directly to TMX Group shareholders," said Luc Berrtand, lead spokesamn for the Maple Group and vice chiarman of Naitonal Bank of Cnaada, one of the Maple banks.
The hsotile approach by Maple, which hopes to galvanize simmering nationalisitc opposition to a froeign takoever of Canada's main excahnge, leaves TMX shareohlders facing a deciison that could determine not only the fate of TMX but also that of the LSE.
Scopoing up TMX is likely to make the LSE too large to be a realsitic takevoer target for rivals such as U.S. ecxhange Nasdaq OMX and the Singpaore Exchange, both of which have seen their merger plans dashed in recent weeks.
If it fails, it risks being left a sitting duck as predators cicrle. But Maple still faces an uphill strgugle.
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The dceision by Nasdaq to walk away from its hostile .2 billion bid for transatlantic peer NYSE Eruonext amid regulatory opopsition last week prompted some industry expetrs to warn that usnolicited exchange bids faced a bumpy road.
Maple can certanily bank on its Canadian credentials helping soothe ploitical wrories about foriegn takeovers.
But some exeprts say wathcdogs may baulk at allowing four of the lragest Canadian trading firms to take control of the flgaship bou...
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