新加坡交易所本周一宣布澳大利亚证交所同意其提出的82亿美元的收购要约。新加坡律师事务所Allen & Gledhill和Stamford Law 以及澳大利亚律师事务所Clayton Utz and Freehills参与了此项合并协议。

若合并完成，澳－新交易所集团本身市值将达到123亿美元。紧随香港、芝加哥、巴西圣保罗、德国交易所之后，名列世界第五大和亚洲第二大交易所。澳－新交易所将为投资者提供20多个国家和地区超过2700家上市公司的投资选择。

这也可能将是近几年交易所合并潮以来最大宗的交易所合并个案。 2006年纽交所收购泛欧交易所。2007年伦敦交易事务所收购了意大利交易所。 2008年纳斯达克收购OMX。

该交易还有待两个交易所各自股东及相关监管机构批准。

The board of directors of the Singapore Exchange has announced that SGX and ASX have entered into a landmark Merger Implementation Agreement (MIA) on Monday 25 October 2010 to combine their listing, trading, clearing and settlement capabilities to create the second largest listing venue in the Asia-Pacific, with combined pro-forma market capitalisation of approximately US$12.3bn as of 22 October 2010.

Singapore firms Allen & Gledhill and Stamford Law are acting as Singapore counsel to the Singapore Exchange (SGX) and the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) in the proposed merger. Clayton Utz and Freehills are advising SGX and the ASX, respectively on Australian law.

If this merger succeeds, it builds on a trend of consolidation among the world’s exchanges. In 2006, the New York Stock Exchange acquired Euronext, while in 2007 the London Stock Exchange acquired Borsa Italiana. In 2008, Nasdaq and OMX merged and in 2000 OMX unsuccessfully tried to buy the London Stock Exchange.ALB

Related stories:

• SGX-ASX confirms merger agreement (25 Oct 2010)