LSE eyes €1bn bid for LCH.Clearnet

The London Stock Exchange (LSE) is in talks to buy clearing house LCH.Clearnet, a deal seen as critical for LSE chief executive Xavier Rolet after his failed attempt to take control of Canadian exchange TMX.

The LSE has put an initial value of about €1 billion (£863.9 million) on Europe’s largest stand-alone clearing house, although sources stress talks are still at an early stage as well as the difficulty of valuing LCH, a not-for-profit company.

JP Morgan, which employed LCH chairman Jacques Aigrain for 19 years before he joined the clearing house in 2009, is advising LCH.