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It is amazing that SIngapore may have once again sought merger/
ownership without an assurance that deal would be permitted.


>
> SGX / ASX
> Published: November 1 2010 10:11 | Last updated: November 1 2010 17:18
> Ten years ago, after OM Gruppen had failed in its bid for the London
> Stock Exchange, executives held a celebratory dinner for advisers:
> vodka, Viking helmets, the works. The defeat mattered less than the
> statement of intent which put the tiny Stockholm-based exchange
> operator firmly on the map. Over the next few years it acquired
> exchanges in Finland, Lithuania, Denmark and Armenia, and in 2008
> sold out to Nasdaq at a very high price.
>
> EDITOR’S CHOICE
> SGX bid for Australian counterpart in doubt - Nov-01
>
> TSE may consider overseas alliances - Oct-26
>
> Inside Asia: Test for regional consolidation - Oct-26
>
> Canberra’s approval the ‘key hurdle’ - Oct-25
>
> Lex: Exchange consolidation - Oct-25
>
> SGX shares slip on ASX takeover plan - Oct-25
>
> Magnus Böcker may be up to something similar now. In 2000 he ran
> OM’s software division; now he is head of SGX, the Singaporean
> exchange group bidding for ASX of Australia. Sadly but predictably,
> his $8.4bn offer met with a cool reception in Canberra, where
> removal of the current 15 per cent cap on ownership in ASX by a
> single shareholder requires parliamentary approval. The coalition
> government may not want to spend political capital drumming up
> support for this particular example of globalisation. That is
> certainly investors’ assumption as ASX shares are trading about a
> fifth below the offer price.
>
> If the offer is rejected, it would not be a disaster for SGX. The
> promised cost synergies are a negligible $30m and the 37 per cent
> premium looks generous. And it is not clear that SGX’s management
> has what it takes to make the combined entity grow organically. Its
> own initiatives – such as the trading of 19 American Depositary
> Receipts of Asian companies – have struggled for traction.
>
> Lost in the SGX/ASX announcement a week ago was a cross-listing
> arrangement with Nasdaq OMX, which allows companies listed on one
> exchange to list on the other. That may be a better signal for SGX’s
> long-term, global ambitions. But as a demonstration of intent to be
> the next big consolidator of exchanges, the offer for ASX could
> hardly be bettered.
>