Quebec regulator will approve TMX takeover

TORONTO (Reuters) - The securities regulator for the Canadian province of Quebec said on Thursday it intends to approve a proposed C$3.8 billion ($3.83 billion) takeover of TMX Group , sending shares of Canada's largest stock market operator sharply higher.

The nod by Quebec's Autorite des marches financiers is a first sign that provincial regulators might allow the transaction proposed by the Maple Group Acquisition Corp despite concerns that it would create a near-monopoly in Canadian financial trading.

Quebec and Ontario, the home of Canada's financial center in Toronto, held separate hearings on the deal late last year. Regulators have been silent about their intentions since then, making investors uneasy.

After the AMF's statement, shares of TMX jumped more than 4 percent to C$45.57, signaling fresh confidence that Maple's C$50-a-share transaction will succeed.

In addition to the AMF's approval, the deal must pass muster with Ontario regulators and with the Federal Competition Bureau.

TMX's portfolio includes Montreal Exchange for derivatives in Quebec, as well as the Ontario-based Toronto Stock Exchange and TSX Venture Exchange for the small-capitalization issue.

PROGRESS REPORTED IN OSC TALKS

Maple - a consortium of 13 banks, pension funds and other financial institutions - said talks with the Ontario Securities Commission were progressing. The regulator will publish draft orders for a 30-day public comment period before making a final decision, Maple said in a statement that followed AMF's.

Maple also said it was in discussions with its investors and lenders to extend support agreements beyond an April 30 deadline, signaling confidence that a deal will eventually get done.

"These developments move us closer to fulfilling our vision to create an integrated exchange and clearing group that can deliver significant benefits to Canada and participants in Canada's capital markets," Maple spokesman Luc Bertrand said in a statement.

If its bid is successful, Maple would control some 85 percent of Canadian stock trading.

In addition to the exchanges already owned by TMX, the deal calls for the acquisition of Alpha Group, the TSX's biggest competitor, as well as the Canadian Depositary for Securities, or CDS, a clearing house run by some of the banks that belong to Maple Group.

TMX shares were up C$1.57 at C45.32 in early trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

($1 = 0.9916 Canadian dollars)

(Reporting By Pav Jordan)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/quebec-regulator-approve-tmx-takeover-124930055.html

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