Shareholders in PLUS Markets Group plc today approved the sale of PLUS’s stock exchange business, PLUS-SX, to ICAP.
The lead up to the confirmation of the sale was confused, with PLUS initially announcing that all of its businesses were to close and then agreeing to sell the stock exchange business to ICAP, which in turn provoked vocal opposition from some shareholders.
The deal, which is conditional on FSA change of control approval, gives ICAP a licence to operate a regulated investment exchange (one of only five in the UK) and so accelerate the building of its listed derivatives business. The survival of PLUS-SX will preserve the listings of around 150 smaller companies. PLUS itself will become an Investing Company under the AIM Rules.
