Swiss stock exchange throws hat in ring for Milan’s Borsa Italiana

The battle for the Milan stock exchange heated up on Thursday, September 17, with Swiss operator SIX Group saying that it, too, is joining the race to buy Borsa Italiana.

Germany’s Deutsche Boerse and pan-European operator Euronext have already declared their interest in acquiring the Italian exchange, which is being put up for sale by London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG). 

“We have submitted a non-binding bid for Borsa Italiana,” a SIX Group spokesman told Agence France-Presse in an emailed reply, without revealing any financial details. 

Last week, Euronext – which operates the exchanges of Amsterdam, Brussels, Dublin, Lisbon, Oslo, and Paris – was the first to show its hand, saying it was teaming up with Italian lender CDP to submit a joint bid. 

Then Frankfurt’s Deutsche Boerse said it, too, had tabled an offer.

On Thursday, Italian news agency Radiocor reported that the LSEG’s board would meet later to discuss the different offers.

LSEG had said in July that it was prepared to sell Borsa Italiana in order to win approval by the European Commission of its planned purchase of United States financial data provider Refinitiv.

No financial details have been released so far, but, according to the Bloomberg news agency, Borsa Italiana could fetch between 3.5 billion and 4 billion euros ($4.2 billion to $4.8 billion).

In addition to operating the Milan stock exchange, Borsa Italiana also has trading platforms for government bonds, a clearing house for trading operations, plus a depository, which would make it a valuable addition to all 3 bidders.

In an interview in Italian daily Il Corriere della Sera on Thursday, SIX Group chief executive Jos Dijsselhof said that buying Milan would mark a step “towards the creation of a European champion with a global dimension and a strong focus in each country where it is present.” – Rappler.com