Deutsche Boerse in Buying Mood With $2.2 Billion in War Chest

(Bloomberg) -- Deutsche Boerse Group AG has about 2 billion euros ($2.2 billion) in its war chest as it looks to join rivals in buying up trading platforms.

Theodor Weimer, chief of the German exchange operator made the comments in the first earnings call with analysts, since abandoning his pursuit of Refinitiv’s foreign exchange assets to London Stock Exchange Group Plc. On the same call, Chief Financial Officer Gregor Pottmeyer said that Deutsche Boerse has 2 billion euros of “firepower’’ for potential deals, or could look at a potential share buyback.

“Clearly we haven’t achieved to get FXall but there are other deals we can go after,” Weimer said. “Only the combination of organic growth and M&A unlocks the potential of this company. We are not getting tired of it, and we understand the mechanics of scalability.’’

Weimer, a former colleague of LSE chief David Schwimmer when they worked at Goldman Sachs Group Inc., said he was looking at opportunities including commodities and fixed income with FX, and data being high priorities.

But he cautioned that he doesn’t want to overpay as he’s aware that price multiples in the market are “extremely’’ high.

“We won’t fall into a trap of feeling pressed to do transactions at any prices. You saw what happened,” with Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing Ltd.’s failed bid for LSE. “We want to get it done.”

This year has already seen LSE offer about $27 billion for Refinitiv, while Euronext bought Oslo Bors VPS and Deutsche Boerse acquired analytics firm Axioma Inc.

“People are looking at what happens with Brexit. I don’t see fundamental change with other exchanges coming into play. They are seen as national domestic DNA, so it would be an exception.”

To contact the reporter on this story: Viren Vaghela in London at vvaghela1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Ambereen Choudhury at achoudhury@bloomberg.net, Marion Dakers

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