Euronext NV, the owner of the Paris and Amsterdam stock exchanges, said it’s in talks with Bolsas y Mercados Espanoles SA, potentially adding the Madrid bourse to its European footprint.
The talks with BME’s board may not lead to an offer being made, Euronext said in a statement Monday. The Spanish exchange operator has a market value of 2.1 billion euros ($2.3 billion).
Euronext Chief Executive Officer Stephane Boujnah has been on the hunt for deals to build scale and enter new markets. People familiar with the matter told Bloomberg News earlier this month that both the Spanish exchange and Italy’s Borsa Italiana were being considered as targets.
Euronext most recently acquired the Oslo exchange. It would likely generate synergies from buying BME by consolidating trading platforms and support functions, Kepler Cheuvreux analyst Geoffroy Le Guyader said earlier this month.
As for BME, analysts at Citigroup Inc. said that it was their least preferred exchange stock given limited prospects for growth. BME Chief Financial Officer Marta Bartolomé has said the Spanish bourse was open to cooperating with other exchanges.
The exchange sector has faced ongoing dealmaking, but the most high-profile proposal of late was scrapped. Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing Ltd. abandoned its 29.6 billion-pound ($38 billion) bid for London Stock Exchange Group Plc after failing to win over investors.
Source: Bloomberg