SIX Group, a Swiss financial markets infrastructure operator, has offered to acquire 100% of Spanish bourse Bolsas y Mercados Españoles (BME) for €34 per share or €2.84bn.
BME operates all stock markets and financial systems in Spain. It provides a variety of products, services and trading systems apart from giving global market access systems to issuers, investors, and intermediaries across Europe, America and Africa.
According to SIX Group, the acquisition of BME will help it create the third-largest financial market infrastructure group in Europe.
The Swiss financial organisation said that its combination with the Spanish bourse will create a diversified group with a strong footprint in Europe.
Furthermore, SIX Group believes that the deal will bolster both Spanish and Swiss ecosystems. This, the company said will be achieved by creating centres of excellence and adding new capabilities to participants of BME and SIX Group.
The proposed merger is also expected to draw new global capital pools to Spain and improve the footprint of Swiss asset managers in the EU.
SIX Group said that its key Swiss financial markets infrastructure services and full client offering will be boosted by the expertise of the Spanish bourse in fixed income, indices, derivatives, and clearing.
The proposed combination is also expected to enable the Swiss group to provide EU trading, clearing, and central securities depository solutions.
SIX Group CEO comments on the proposal to BME
SIX Group CEO Jos Dijsselhof said: “BME will benefit from SIX’s expertise across the value chain, an opportunity to become the EU-hub for the world’s largest asset pool, SIX’s strengths in financial information and distributed ledger technology, as well as its global reach.
“It is intended that BME will continue to operate independently with its existing management team, regulated by the CNMV as now.”
BME’s board of directors has responded positively to the proposal. The board said that the offered price from SIX Group may reasonably reflect the present value of the businesses from a financial point of view.
It also said that the commitments made by the Swiss group are necessary to ensure that the integrity and stability of the Spanish markets, systems and infrastructures will be intact.
In another development, Euronext revealed that it is engaged in talks with the board of BME regarding a potential acquisition of the Spanish bourse. The pan-European exchange said that the ongoing talks may or may not result in an offer being made.
