LSE bid claims the scalps of top German bourse pair

FRANKFURT - The two top managers of Deutsche Boerse will step down next year as a result of the exchange's abortive bid for the London Stock Exchange (LSE).

"Chief executive Werner Seifert and board chairman Rolf Breuer will give up their posts next year," a source said, adding a deal had been done with major investors unhappy with the London bid.

Breuer's term was due to end next year while Seifert's contract was up for renewal.

In return for their departures, the major investors will curb pressure at the May 25 annual meeting for Seifert and Breuer to resign after discontent over the way they were treated during the latest attempt to buy the LSE.

A Deutsche Boerse spokesman declined to comment.

In pushing ahead with the bid, Seifert and Breuer incurred the wrath of some of their largest shareholders, who felt calls for the bourse to not spend its money on the London exchange were ignored for too long.

Shareholders, including hedge funds TCI and Atticus, had urged management to drop the planned 1.3 billion ($3.46 billion) bid for the LSE, which would have created the world's second-biggest securities market after the New York Stock Exchange.

They said the offer, first made in December, was too generous and had called on the bourse to instead return to them all the money it planned to spend on the LSE.

Pressure from such shareholders, plus a lack of support from the LSE board, forced Seifert and Breuer to withdraw the offer, but not until early March.

As further concessions, the bourse has offered its new leading shareholders seats on the supervisory board in the hope of quelling their rebellion, has announced its first share buyback programme and offered talks on other ways to return cash.

- REUTERS