Euronext says any details on new plan for Italy bourse ‘speculative’

Pan-European stock exchange Euronext dismissed as speculation reports in the Italian press about job cuts and top management changes at the recently acquired Milan bourse under a new business plan due in the autumn. Euronext completed its acquisition of the Milan stock exchange in a 4.4 billion euro ($5.2 billion), and that deal that turns Italy into the main trading venue for the group and a key revenue engine. Euronext reported 329 million euros in second-quarter revenue, up 56% year-on-year thanks to a 90-million-euro contribution from Borsa. This is due to present a new strategic plan in November.

Euronext gave a statement that they are working with Borsa Italiana colleagues on the business plan. And any assumption on its contents is pure speculation. Italian daily MF reported that the plan under study envisages Borsa cutting its cost base by at least a fifth with a 200 staff reduction. Confirming reports in the domestic press, it was stated that the current Borsa CEO Raffaele Jerusalmi is expected to be replaced and the search for a new boss who would oversee the upcoming plan has started. Euronext’s takeover of Borsa, which was previously part of the London Stock Exchange, has been a sensitive political matter in Italy. And that is mostly due to Borsa’s ownership of the MTS platform where Rome’s 2.3 trillion-euro government bonds are traded. Euronext said in July that double-digit growth in MTS cash trading activities had been the main driver of Borsa’s revenues.

Euronext negotiated a governance set-up under which Italian state investor CDP Equity and top bank Intesa Sanpaolo have joined the group of Euronext’s core shareholders. Under the terms of the accord, the CEO of both Borsa and MTS must be Italian nationals. And also, the Euronext’s Italian shareholders are expected to have a say on their appointments.