By Aled Herbert, 23 August 2001 09:53
NEWS Liffe has denied speculation that it is facing a hostile takeover bid from the London Stock Exchange but said it was prepared to consider "serious" offers for the business. The chairman of the futures exchange Sir Brian Williamson asserted that the company was pursuing its expansion strategy and added it had the support of its shareholders. Liffe was boosted this week by news that its Nasdaq Liffe Markets joint venture has been given the green light by UK and US regulators. The venture centres around the trade of stock future contracts on US exchanges. The company will split its trading and tech divisions into "interdependent" businesses later this year. However, Willamson was quick to deny speculation that the company will be broken up, the Financial Times reports. Liffe yesterday reported a 43 per cent rise in profits for the first half of 2001 of £6.8m from £4.7m. Revenues increased 37 per cent to £66m.
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