SIX seals BME deal to join European stock exchange big league
Swiss company SIX has become Europe’s third-largest stock exchange operator by revenues after completing a €2.57 billion (CHF2.75 billion) takeover of Spanish rival BME, forming a base for European Union expansion.
This content was published on
2 minutes
Reuters/ts
The takeover deal – which values the company at €2.8 billion – marks the end of the independence of the Spanish bourse that was founded in 1831.
The acquisition of one of Europe’s last stand-alone stock exchanges comes at a time when the industry is struggling with lower fees and declining revenues, though market volatility in March due to the Covid-19 outbreak temporarily increased trading income.
SIX’s chief executive officer Jos Dijsselhof said on Thursday that for now the Swiss company was not planning to delist BME as the acceptance level for the bid had not surpassed a 95% threshold. He also said the listing of SIX was not “an active plan at the moment”.
SIX’s all-cash takeover bid was accepted by owners of 77,899,990 BME shares, representing a 93.16% of the Spanish company’s capital, Spain’s CNMV market regulator said.
No massive layoffs
Dijsselhof said SIX remained committed to maintaining BME headquarters and operations for at least ten years and also said that the company was not planning to engage in massive layoffs in Switzerland or in Spain.
He said that BME would give SIX an opportunity to look at further expanding its business to more customers in the EU. Since July 2019, Swiss trading platforms have been frozen out of the EU market amid an ongoing dispute between Switzerland and Brussels about the future direction of bilateral ties between the two.
More
More
Has the EU scored an own goal with Swiss stock exchange freeze?
This content was published on
Of all the sticks the European Union could have used to beat Switzerland into line, freezing out its stock market is one of the most ineffectual.
What do you think Switzerland’s Alain Berset can bring to the Council of Europe?
The former interior minister is to become the first Swiss Secretary General of the Council of Europe – which issues should his five-year term focus on?
Swiss air traffic control upgrade slows tempo for safety reasons
This content was published on
The upgrade of Switzerland’s air traffic control system will take longer than anticipated following a series of malfunctions.
Switzerland remains ‘world’s most innovative country’
This content was published on
Switzerland remains the world's most innovative country, still ahead of Sweden and the US on the WIPO Global Innovation Index.
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.
Read more
More
Coronavirus decimates Swiss stocks
This content was published on
The Swiss Market Index (SMI) ended Thursday down 9.64% on 8,270 points, having broken the 10% mark just before the close of trading.
Swiss digital stock exchange offers partners ownership stake
This content was published on
The Swiss stock exchange is offering strategic partners a stake of up to 30% in its new SDX digital assets trading platform.
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.