FRANKFURT - The US investment bank Morgan Stanley has placed 1.8 million shares in German stock market operator Deutsche Boerse on the market at a price of 57 euros (76 dollars) per share, people close to the deal said on Wednesday.
The sources could not confirm reports that the Morgan Stanley had placed the shares on behalf of The Children's Investment Master Fund (TCI), which held a 5.5-percent stake in the Frankfurt stock exchange in January.
Earlier today, Deutsche Boerse supervisory board chief Rolf Breuer hit out at shareholders for the German company's failure to pursue a takeover bid for the LSE.
TCI and other shareholders, including Atticus Capital, Fidelity Investments and Merrill Lynch, had made clear their opposition to the deal from the very beginning.
A merger "became impossible because there has been a change in the identities of our shareholders since the deal was first announced. They have a completely different agenda. They don't want any deal at all, regardless of the price, (or) ... terms and conditions," Breuer complained.
The shareholders "wanted the cash which Deutsche Boerse has generated and more cash in the course of the year, in 2006 and in 2007," Breuer said.
"This is not the policy of (Deutsche Boerse's) management board and the supervisory board. We want to give something sustainable to our shareholders, not short-term cash," he added.
03/09/2005 16:04 GMT