The London Stock Exchange has confirmed City speculation that it is in talks with rival trading platform Turquoise.
Following recent hints from new LSE chief executive Xavier Rolet that the company was on the lookout for acquisitions, traders had been hearing suggestions that it was interested in Turquoise, the trading platform set up three years ago by nine major banks as a rival to the LSE.
And the LSE has just confirmed in a statement that "it has entered into exclusive discussions with Turquoise Trading Limited, which may lead to a transaction." Although dealers said it was difficult to put a value on Turquoise - which has gained around 6% of the market for trading in top UK company shares but is loss making - the LSE has a warchest of around £300m for deals. It is believed that rival Nasdaq OMX has also shown interest in Turquoise, which had effectively been put up for sale by its bank owners over the summer.
The LSE's shares have slipped 4p to 852p on the news.
