The Euronext logo on the company headquarters. AFP

Pan-European stock market operator Euronext said Friday it is in negotiations with the London Stock Exchange to buy the Milan stock market.

Euronext -- which operates the exchanges of Amsterdam, Brussels, Dublin, Lisbon, Oslo and Paris -- confirmed in a statement "it is currently in discussions with Cassa Depositi e Prestiti (CDP) to submit an offer to London Stock Exchange Group plc for the acquisition of the business and key operational assets of Borsa Italiana."

"A further announcement will be made as and when appropriate," it said.

LSEG had said at the end of July that it was prepared to sell the Milan exchange in order to win approval by the EU Commission of its planned purchase of US financial data provider Refinitiv.

When asked at the beginning of the year about the possibility of buying the Milan market, Euronext chief Stephane Boujnah had said his group could be interested if LSEG were looking to sell. 

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Mergers and acquisitions were useful, "but not an end in themselves," he said.

The aim was to diversify and for that "we will examine all assets" that present themselves, Boujnah said.

Euronext has announced a number of takeovers recently, including last month the Danish Central Securities Depository, VP Securities to expand its Nordic footprint.

It also acquired the Scandinavian electricity exchange Nord Pool in January and the Oslo Stock Exchange in June 2019.

Agence France-Presse