LSE, Deutsche Boerse Do ‘Street Sweep’ to Hinder Rivals
- Companies hoard banks to make it harder for rivals to bid
- ICE says it's considering counter bid, CME said to also look
Pedestrians walk past the London Stock Exchange Group Plc's offices in Paternoster Square in London, U.K., on Thursday, March 26, 2015.
Photographer: Chris Ratcliffe/BloombergLondon Stock Exchange Group Plc and Deutsche Boerse AG have gone on a hiring spree for banks in a so-called street sweep, as they try to fend off interlopers to their European exchange merger by hoarding advisers and financing, according to people familiar with the matter.
LSE -- whose lead adviser in the transaction is Robey Warshaw LLP -- is in the process of signing up additional banks including Goldman Sachs Group Inc., JPMorgan Chase & Co., Royal Bank of Canada, UBS Group AG, Barclays Plc and Societe Generale SA, according to people familiar with the matter. Deutsche Boerse, whose main adviser on the deal is Perella Weinberg Partners LP, is also close to retaining Deutsche Bank AG, Bank of America Corp. and HSBC Holdings Plc, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the matter is private.