London Stock Exchange, Deutsche Boerse Surge On Merger Talks

Shares of London Stock Exchange Group PLC and Deutsche Boerse AG rallied in afternoon trade on Tuesday after the two exchange operators confirmed they are in merger talks. London Stock exchange jumped 18%, setting it on track for its best daily performance in almost 10 years. Deutsche Boerse rose 7.8%. The board of the two companies said in a statement they are in "detailed discussions about a potential merger of equals", which would be structured as an all-share deal. Under the terms of the potential merger, LSE shareholders would receive 0.4421 new shares in exchange for each London Stock Exchange share and Deutsche Boerse shareholders would be entitled to receive one new share in exchange for each Deutsche Boerse share. "The Boards believe that the potential merger would represent a compelling opportunity for both companies to strengthen each other in an industry-defining combination, creating a leading European-based global markets infrastructure group," they said in the release.