Euronext 'joins battle for Liffe'

The board of Euronext is meeting in Amsterdam and is rumoured to be finalising a bid for London's Liffe futures and options market.

A bid from Euronext, which was formed by the merger of the leading exchanges in Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam, would compete with an approach from the London Stock Exchange (LSE).

Insiders have valued the Euronext bid at up to £400m ($580m).

But the exchange itself declined to comment on what its board members would discuss at Friday's meeting.

And both Euronext and the LSE have been shy of making the first formal offer.

Targeting London

Euronext has an aggressive expansionist policy and aims to be the leading stock market in Europe.

"It is clear that Euronext views London as the only viable financial centre, and if they move here, expect them to take a much more aggressive role," said one London analyst.

While the London Stock Exchange has made no secret of its approach to buy Liffe, it has not yet revealed a price for its bid.

Insiders have valued LSE's offer at between £343m and £370m.

Liffe is seen as an important strategic asset for exchanges due to the globalisation of trade.

LSE and Euronext have been seen as the frontrunners in the battle for Liffe, although there was originally some interest from US exchanges.