ICE drops £10bn LSE bid on 'disappointing' lack of engagement

Was preparing bid last month

The owner of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), has shelved its bid for the London Stock Exchange, saying the group had failed to engage over the transaction.

Last month reports emerged the ICE had secured funding for a £10bn rival bid for the London Stock Exchange. The owner of the NYSE said it was considering bids following the news of merger talks between the LSE and Deutsche Boerse, Germany's exchange. However, the US group has now said it is dropping its bid for the LSE, and has accused the UK exchange of failing to arrange meetings to discuss the deal. The Financial Times quotes ICE's head Jeffrey Sprecher saying: "The disappointing level of engagement of the LSE ultimately did not allow us to make a complete determination of the i...