Leading European Stock Exchange operator, Euronext announced its shareholder's approval of the Borsa Italiana acquisition. During its general meeting, shareholders voted in favor of the recent deal with approval from more than 99.99% of the votes cast.
Finance Magnates reported about the $5 billion cash acquisition in October this year. The deal states that Euronext will receive 100% of the issued share capital of Borsa Italiana.
The London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) shareholders approved the deal on 3 November, followed by the approval of the German Federal Cartel Office on 11 November for the transaction. The recent approval paved way for the deal to get finalised, but there are conditions attached. The mentioned transaction is still conditional upon the divestment of the Borsa Italiana Group.
Commenting on the recent approval, Stéphane Boujnah, CEO and the Board Chairman of Euronext, said: “We are delighted by the strong show of support from our shareholders today for the contemplated acquisition of the Borsa Italiana Group. This transaction significantly enhances Euronext’s scale, diversifies its business mix into new asset classes, and strengthens its post-trade activities. With today’s approval by our shareholders, following the approval by LSEG shareholders on 3 November 2020, we have now satisfied one of the major conditions for the transaction, which we expect to complete during the first half of 2021. We look forward to welcoming CDP Equity and Intesa Sanpaolo soon as new reference shareholders of Euronext.”
Euronext Targets 2021
Despite the approval from shareholders, the mentioned transaction still requires approvals from regulatory authorities in Belgium, France, the UK, the US and Italy. “The transaction still requires a declaration of non-objection from Euronext’s College of Regulators and approval of Euronext as a suitable purchaser by the European Commission. Euronext expects to complete the transaction in the first half of 2021,” the official press release states.
According to the information provided by Euronext, the company operates regulated exchanges in Belgium, France, Ireland, The Netherlands, Norway and Portugal with nearly 1,500 listed issuers worth €3.8 trillion in market capitalisation as of the end of September 2020.
