Amid the market’s slump, the biggest faller in the FTSE 100 is London Stock Exchange.
Its shares are down 239p or more than 9% at £22.99 having fallen as low as £22.63, following news that that Borse Dubai - its largest shareholder - had sold its entire 17.4% stake.
According to Reuters the sale was done at £22.50 a share, worth about £1.36bn. It told Reuters it had decided on the disposal as LSE shares were at an all time high and it was “the appropriate time to monetise” the investment.
Its holding in the LSE goes back to 2007, made as part of a complex deal also involving Nasdaq which helped see off an attempt by Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund from taking control.
It last sold shares in September 2014, disposing of a 3.1% stake and saying at the time it remained a long term supportive shareholder.
But since then LSE shares have soared, partly on the prospects for continued consolidation in the exchange sector.
