SGX and ASX agree $8.2 billion merger

Australia’s ASX Limited and Singapore Exchange SGX said yesterday in a joint statement that they will merge. The announcement followed news leaked on Friday last week that a deal was imminent.

Magnus Böcker, SGX’s chief executive, seems to be the driving force behind the transaction, which is made up of a mixture of cash and scrip, according to bankers. It will create the second biggest stock exchange in Asia behind Hong Kong Exchanges Clearing HKEx, and the fifth largest in the world, as measured by the market capitalisation of the exchanges’ listed entities. On October 22, the pro forma market capitalisation of the new entity was $12.3 billion. Both stocks were...