Deutsche Boerse - Round 2

We still have not received a reply from the prominent investment firms that fought against the Deutsche Boerse bid for the London Stock Exchange.

We wholeheartedly supported their campaign for the right of Deutsche Boerse shareholders to be consulted over the bid. But we are also firmly in the camp of those who think that this right should be firmly enshrined in Europe's Corporate Governance Rules. So when we made inquiries about the commitment of some of these firms and did not get a clear statement supporting this principle we got a bit suspicious. Was this campaign only a tactical ploy to allow individual funds to make more money?

Maybe they should publish a history of their their dealings in the shares of Deutsche Boerse and the LSE before, during and after the bid attempt?

Should Bidders get privileged access to Company Books?

'Private' Equity firms do not like to make hostile bids, in many cases their investors do not allow them. So while it is understandable that VC firms try to get a chance to do due diligence before making a firm offer we think that this practice should be examined. Does it not give a clear advantage to the bidder? He gets something that is very valuable for free and should at least have to pay a fair price for this information. Existing Shareholders - Retail as well as Institutional Shareholders - are required to rely on publicly available information and are thus kept at a disadvantage.