UniCredit and Intesa Sanpaolo sell LSE stake

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.

UniCredit had a 6.1% stake and Intesa had a 5.4% stake as the third- and fourth-largest shareholders of LSE. The two Italian banks had been shareholders since LSE acquired Borsa Italiana in 2007.

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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.

MG