London Stock Exchange Group PLC (LON:LSE) and Deutsche Boerse AG are in exclusive talks to sell LCH Group's French clearing business to Euronext SA, a deal that may help pave the way for the merger of the Frankfurt and London exchanges.
The two groups said that the talks are being held “to address proactively anti-trust concerns raised by the European Commission in relation to certain businesses.”
They added that there “can be no certainty that this will lead to any transaction or as to the terms upon which any transaction might proceed.”
They also said any potential sale would be subject to the review and approval by the EC.
The agreed US$28bn merger of the two European bourse operators was announced on 16 March 2016, with the EC expected to decide on the deal by March 6 2017.
The Commission issued a statement of objections to the merger earlier this month, although that outlined fewer concerns over the deal – which will create Europe’s dominant markets operator - compared with a first letter sent at the end of September.