EU Commission prohibits merger of Deutsche Börse and London Stock Exchange Group

Today, the EU Commission informed Deutsche Börse AG and the London Stock Exchange Group plc that it has decided to prohibit the planned merger of the two companies in spite of the remedial measures offered by both companies.

HLDCO123 will publish the termination of the exchange offer and will unwind the exchange offer in accordance with the terms of the exchange offer.

Deutsche Börse regrets the decision taken by the European Commission. Joachim Faber, chairman of the Supervisory Board of Deutsche Börse AG, said: “The prohibition is a setback for Europe, the Capital Markets Union and the bridge between continental Europe and Great Britain. A rare opportunity to create a global market infrastructure provider based in Europe and to strengthen the global competitiveness of Europe’s financial markets has been missed.”

Carsten Kengeter, CEO of Deutsche Börse AG, added: “Deutsche Börse is well-positioned on a stand-alone basis to compete at a global level with other market infrastructure players. We will continue to pursue our growth strategy, to strengthen our innovation capabilities and to even better serve market and customer needs. Through this strategic approach we want to create added value for our clients and shareholders and contribute to the positive development of Frankfurt as financial centre.”

The Group’s growth strategy is geared towards offering clients new products, new services and new technologies. Moreover, in cooperation with the supervisory and regulatory authorities as well as politicians, the company strives to strengthen the stability and integrity of financial markets.

With its established growth strategy “Accelerate”, the Management Board and Supervisory Board aim to ensure Deutsche Börse is ranked amongst the leading providers in all of its business segments. This goal serves the best interests of clients, shareholders and staff. Over the medium term, the company expects to increase consolidated net profit by 10 per cent to 15 per cent per annum.