MERGER: LSE, Maple launch bidding war for TSX

TORONTO - A bidding war appears to have broken out in the contest to take over the Toronto Stock Exchange. The original suitor, the London Stock Exchange, increased its offer by $300 million to be paid as a $4 per share special dividend, bringing its offer to the equivalent of $49 per share.

Not to be outdone, the Maple Group, a consortium of Canadian financial institutions, increased its offer by $2 per share, to $50.

Shareholders have some questions to settle in their own minds before choosing from these offers. Is $1 a share a persuasive difference? Do we want a European country influencing the TSX, the exchange that has raised so many billions for the mining industry? How will policies change if the TSX is run by bankers?

HOT TOPIC: A bit of a bidding war has broken out in the quest to takeover the Toronto Stock Exchange. Which offer - the LSE or Maple Group - would you support if you were a TSX shareholder?

Go to the CMJ homepage at www.CanadianMiningJournal.com and look for the Hot Topic box on the left-hand side of the page to vote.