(Bloomberg) -- SIX Group AG announced an all-cash offer for Spanish stock exchange operator Bolsas y Mercados Espanoles in a deal it says would create Europe's third-largest group for financial market infrastructure.
The Swiss stock exchange operator, which is privately held by a group of the country's banks, will offer 34 euros per share for 100% of BME, it said in a statement Monday. That values the company at about 2.8 billion euros ($3.1 billion). The offer was announced minutes after Euronext NV said it is in talks with BME about a possible combination.
“This is in line with SIX's growth strategy and our commitment to serve customers with highly reliable infrastructure services and seamless access to capital markets,” SIX Chairman Romeo Lacher said in the statement.
The offer is 33.9% higher than BME's closing price on Friday. SIX expects to keep BME's stand-alone listing in the Madrid, Barcelona, Bilbao and Valencia Stock Exchanges, it said.
SIX Group had been weighing the acquisition of a European Union bourse, Bloomberg previously reported citing people familiar with the matter. Potential targets included BME and Austria's Wiener Boerse AG, one person said.
To contact the reporter on this story: Patrick Winters in Zurich at pwinters3@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Dale Crofts at dcrofts@bloomberg.net, Ross Larsen
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