The Board of London Stock Exchange Group plc (the Exchange Group) is to post its shareholder circular in response to the final offer posted by Nasdaq on 12 December 2006. As stated in the Exchange Group’s announcements on 20 November and 12 December 2006, the Board has unanimously rejected Nasdaq’s offer as they felt it substantially undervalued the Exchange Group and failed to reflect their position and the earnings and operational momentum of the business.
The Circular highlights the Exchange Group’s position at the centre of the globalisation of capital markets, the resilience and quality of the business and its ability to compete successfully in a fertile environment for highly efficient listing and trading platforms.
The Circular will include the Exchange Group’s forecast for adjusted basic earnings per share for the 12 months to 31 December 2006 which is expected to be not less than 50.4 pence per share, an increase of no less than 58 percent. The Board will also reveal its intention to recommend a FY 2007 final dividend of not less than 12 pence per share, bringing the total dividend for FY 2007 to at least 18 pence per share, an increase of at least 50 percent compared to FY 2006.
“Over the last twelve months, records have tumbled in terms of money raised as well as the volume and value of trading on our markets,” says Chris Gibson-Smith, the Chairman of the Exchange Group. “This is further confirmation of the significant progress we are making towards the realisation of our vision to be ‘the world’s capital market’. For the second time this year, Nasdaq is offering a wholly inadequate price for the company and shareholders should reject the offer.”