Deutsche Boerse stock was the top German market gainer today after a key investor said it opposed a proposed bid for the London Stock Exchange, fanning market talk that the deal could collapse.
The stock was up 3.5 per cent at €45.30 earlier this morning, outperforming an 0.4 per cent higher DAX-30 index.
"(The rise) reflects the market view that its bid will fail," said a Frankfurt broker after UK fund The Children's Investment Fund Management (TCI) said it wanted a shareholder meeting to discuss the offer.
TCI Fund Management, representing two funds that own more than 5 per cent of Deutsche Boerse's shares, said it and most large investors would oppose Boerse's £1.3 billion bid. TCI did not name the other investors.
LSE has rejected the offer as too low, but it is in talks with Boerse as well as continental rival Euronext, which has also voiced an interest, about the operational aspects of a merger.
Commenting on Boerse's plan to create the world's second-ranked stock market after the New York Stock Exchange, the broker said, "There is a groundswell of opinion against this deal. It is a question of costs - it will be tough for Boerse to earn back the invested capital."
He noted that some Boerse investors had said publicly that they did not think the takeover proposal made economic sense.