Hostile rival to LSE’s Canada bid

The Canadian consortium set up to thwart TMX’s planned merger with the London Stock Exchange (LSE) has launched a hostile bid.

Maple Group has offered 3.7bn Canadian dollars ($3.8bn) cash for a 70% stake in the Toronto stock exchange owner.

The widely anticipated move comes three weeks before TMX shareholders are due to vote on the LSE’s own offer.

Maple called on investors to vote down the LSE offer, which has been accepted by TMX management.

If the LSE’s bid goes through, there will be no possibility of Maple succeeding.

However, the LSE bid could still be blocked by Canadian regulators. A Canadian law requires that foreign takeovers must provide a net benefit to the country.

In its rival offer, Maple promised to maintain TMX’s current dividend, and to keep current management in place.

The all-Canadian consortium comprises four major banks, five pension funds and four other recently-joined major investors.