Back in August there was all sorts of speculation over whether the London Stock Exchange might be going full fat Italian – complimenting its takeover of Borsa Italiana with a deal that could have seen the world’s oldest bank, Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena, picking up a large slice of Nasdaq’s unwanted 31 per cent holding in the LSE.
Well, it’s clearly not to be.
MPS, as Banca Monte is better known, on Wednesday set about placing the near-three per cent stake in the LSE that it inherited directly from the Borsa Italiana takeover. UBS were doing the business at a rumoured price of £17.80.
Shares in the LSE were forecast to open about five per cent lower.