The European Union's antitrust watchdog formally blocked the planned $28 billion tie-up between Deutsche Börse and London Stock Exchange Group after the parties failed to offer sufficient remedies to assuage antitrust concerns.
London Stock Exchange Group PLC's bet on the growth of passive investing stands to give it an edge over Deutsche Börse AG as the two go it alone after European regulators blocked their plan to create Europe's largest exchange operator.
"Competition is a good thing, it brings down prices, it enables innovation, it forces you to stay on your toes so I think for the entire business economy and the entire economy it is a good thing that competition is reviewed and put first and foremost," insisted Margrethe Vestager, the European Commissioner for Competition.
Prospects for the deal had slumped following the LSE's announcement on February 26 that it would not seek to divest its majority stake in Italian fixed income trading platform, MTS, as per the European Commission's request.
Would-be merger partner, Deutsche Boerse, appeared to be caught off guard by the LSE's unilateral decision as markets and regulators were, with many seeing the London exchange's intransigence as an indication of it developing cold feet about the tie-up.
Both companies' stock prices ticked higher following the announcement of the veto, with shares in the LSE up by 2.84 percent by midday London time and those of Deutsche Boerse up by 1.40 percent.
CNBC
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