The group of Canadian banks and pension funds seeking to block TMX Group’s merger with the London Stock Exchange (LSE) went hostile with its C$3.7 bn ($3.8 bn) bid for the Canadian exchange operator last night.
Maple Group took the decision to go hostile after TMX Group announced it would put its proposed all-share merger to shareholders at a special meeting on June 30.
‘By accelerating the timing of its meeting to consider the LSE takeover, it has given us no choice but to make our offer available directly to TMX Group shareholders,’ comments Luc Bertrand, a spokesperson for Maple Group and a vice chairman at National Bank of Canada, one of the backers of the consortium, in a statement.
Last week, TMX Group rejected a cash-and-shares bid from Maple Group, saying the proposal required too much debt and was inadequate given that the takeover would result in a change of control, among other reasons.
Maple Group – whose backers also include TD Bank and Bank of Nova Scotia – hopes to benefit from nationalistic sentiment, which has seen some politicians speak out against the TMX Group’s planned tie-up with the LSE.
