The Swiss stock exchange operator SIX has received the support of the Spanish government and the local supervisory authority for its takeover of rival BME. There's one last hurdle to take before the two can combine their services.
The deal looks now set to go through: on Wednesday, the Spanish government gave its nod of approval for the planned takeover of Spain’s stock exchange BME by SIX, its Swiss rival. Today Thursday, SIX said that the exchange supervisor (CNMV) of the Southern European nation had authorized the acceptance of the all-cash offer.
The shareholders of BME have the last say in this affair, which values the Spanish firm at 2.79 billion euros ($3.05 billion). SIX offered to pay 33.40 euros per BME share. At the time of the offer in November 2019, the price offered by SIX represented a premium of 48 percent over the average share price during a six-month period.
Headquarters to Stay Put
The offer acceptance period will be 43 calendar days from the date of publication of the offer, SIX said in the statement.
The combination of BME and SIX will create the third-largest financial market infrastructure group in Europe, with a trading platform larger than Deutsche Boerse's. The BME headquarters will remain in Spain.
