The London Stock Exchange said it is “highly unlikely” it will be able to meet antitrust conditions set by Brussels for its tie-up with Deutsche Boerse, throwing the merger into doubt.
The announcement by LSE, which also operates the Milan stock exchange, is the latest twist in its longstanding attempt to merge with the German stock exchange operator.
The LSE said it had examined the European Commission’s request to divest its majority stake in Italian trading unit MTS, concluding it could not commit to such a request.
“The LSEG Board believes that it is highly unlikely that a sale of MTS could be satisfactorily achieved, even if LSEG were to give the commitment,” LSE said in a statement.
The announcement comes after the Commission raised new concerns on February 16 about the merger, giving the company a deadline of midday on February 27 to outline a proposal for divesting in…