One of the oldest Exchanges in Europe is the Deutsche Börse (German Stock Exchange). Located in Frankfurt, the exchange has a long history in the German and European markets. Since the late 1600s, the country’s exchange rate has been set in this city on the Main River.

The Börse is also one of the most modern. Almost 96 percent of all shares traded in Germany go through its Xetra-System, which is regarded as one of the most sophisticated exchange systems in the world. But it is into the global marketplace that the Germans have long dreamed of expanding.

For years the Deutsche Börse has pushed for a merging of the major European markets and along with other major exchanges is now aggressively pursuing the consolidation dream.

Dreams on the Main

Following the two failed attempts to acquire the London Stock Exchange, the Börse was also beat out by the New York Stock Exchange in an attempt to buy Euronext, Europe’s second largest exchange after Frankfurt.


“We are still confident that our offer for the London Stock Exchange will be successful in the end,” said Börse Chier Werner Seifert two years ago, before being forced to resign by shareholders.

While new Börse boss Reto Francioni might not openly express his goals of consolidation, many experts still believe that it is the Börse's top priority.

A Top Priority?

"Consolidation is for us a means to an end and not an end in itself,“ said Franconioni. “Even if the headlines that such transactions can generate are still very attractive, the business success of Deutsche Börse does not depend on such a consolidation step."

Further complicating any goals of expansion, the Börse shareholders told Francioni last month that they did not support a $2.9 billion bid for US derivatives exchange International Securities Exchange (ISE).

Merging Markets

Deutsche Börse is not alone on the consolidation front. The US-based technology exchange Nasdaq is looking into acquiring the London LSE exchange and OMX, an exchange comprised of Scandinavian and Baltic markets.


“We are living in a globalized world,” said Ascan Iredi, an exchange expert at Postbank in Germany in support of exchange consolidation.

Like global businesses, global exchanges must look to fill gap or find niches where they can prosper. For Iredi, this applies to the Deutsche Börse as well.

After three major setbacks, the Börse is now looking to cooperate with smaller markets to expand its worldwide reach, as is evidenced in its acquisition of five percent of the Bombay Stock Exchange.

“We cannot deny that the appropriate strategy for worldwide businesses is fundamentally the right one,” said Iredi.