Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing made a £32bn bid for London Stock Exchange Group.

Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing, the Hong Kong stock exchange, made a £32bn ($39.5bn) bid to acquire London Stock Exchange Group. Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing tabled a proposal to the LSE board that stipulates its offer will only proceed if the deal for Refinitiv is terminated or voted down by shareholders. Under the terms of the deal, LSEG shareholders would receive 2,045 pence in cash and 2.495 newly issued HKEX shares per share, representing a premium of 22.9% to the closing share price of 6,804 pence per LSEG share on 10 September 2019. On 8 October 2019 HKEX announced that it has dropped its bid as pursuit of the transaction is not in shareholders' interest. Laura Cha, Chairman of HKEX, said: "We believe a combination of HKEX and LSEG represents a highly compelling strategic opportunity to create a global market infrastructure group, bringing together the largest and most significant financial centres in Asia and Europe. Following early engagement with LSEG, we look forward to working in detail with the LSEG Board to demonstrate that this transaction is in the best interests of all stakeholders, investors and both businesses."