The Competition Commission (CC) has published an issues statement as part of its inquiry into the anticipated acquisition by Deutsche Borse AG or Euronext NV of London Stock Exchange plc (LSE).
The proposed mergers were referred by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) on 29 March 2005 and the CC is seeking to establish whether they may be expected to result in a substantial lessening of competition within the UK market or markets for on-exchange trading services for equities, clearing services for equities trades, or any other market or markets such as listing, settlement or information services.
If the CC finds that either of the proposed mergers may be expected to result in a substantial lessening of competition, it will consider whether, and if so what, remedies might be appropriate and will issue a remedies statement at a later date. The CC is required to publish its final report by 12 September 2005.
The CC has yet to reach any conclusions, and will not do so until it has discussed these issues with LSE, DBAG, Euronext and others.