Italian banks UniCredit and Intesa Sanpaolo have announced that they have sold their combined 11.5 per cent stake of market operator London Stock Exchange (LSE).
The banks made the transaction via an "accelerated bookbuild" at 960p per share, a discount to Tuesday's closing price. The Italian banks aim to divest non-strategic assets in order to increase capital resources.
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Intesa said that it generated a capital gain of €105m while UniCredit said it generated a gain of €120m.
The announcement drove shares of LSE lower on Wednesday; by 9:51, they were down 7.39% at 945.5p.
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