Deals
HKEx Shares Tumble as LME Purchase May Clear Regulator
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Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing Ltd.’s bid for the London Metal Exchange, the most expensive bourse merger over $1 billion, may succeed in gaining the approval of regulators who’ve scuttled $32 billion of similar cross-border deals.
Hong Kong Exchanges shares dropped 4.5 percent in Hong Kong, taking declines to 26 percent since Feb. 18, when the South China Morning Post first reported the bid. The Bloomberg World Exchanges Index has dropped 14 percent in that time. The offer of 107.6 pounds a share, or 180 times LME’s 2011 net income, requires approvals from LME’s shareholders and the U.K. Financial Services Authority. It doesn’t need shareholder consent in Hong Kong.