Euronext boss open to merger with Deutsche Boerse

14th Sep 2026 14:45

(Sharecast News) - Share prices of Euronext and Deutsche Boerse both gained on Monday after Euronext's chief executive said he was open to a merger of the two marketplaces.

In an interview with the Financial Times, Stéphane Boujnah said a combination of the companies wasn't off the table, reigniting merger talks that first started more than two decades ago.

Conversations, however, were not currently happening, the chief executive stressed.

Back in 2006, Deutsche Boerse made a takeover offer for its smaller peer, while European competition regulators ruled out a planned merger in 2012.

"On the big bang deal, the antitrust issues are well known  [...]  but on paper it is interesting for Europe to consider the creation of a pan-European market infrastructure which has a planetary scale," he said.

He also said another deal that would "make sense" was the potential merger of the companies' exchange businesses.

"So there will be plenty of synergies in making equity markets closer so that we could have a single equity market addressing the needs of the GDP of the three largest economies of Europe," he said.

Euronext shares were up 1.3% at €160.30 by the end of play on Monday, while Deutsche Boerse rose 1.9% to €281.60.