LCH.Clearnet has refuted an unsourced report in UK broadsheet The Guardian that claimed it had rejected a $400 million bid from InterContinentalExchange.
The offer by ICE, based in Atlanta, Georgia, was backed by the Singapore stock exchange, says the newspaper.
According to The Guardian, LCH.Clearnet rejected ICE's bid on the grounds that it did not reflect the true value of the clearer. ICE's offer also ran into opposition from LCH.Clearnet's shareholders who feared a takeover could result in higher trading fees from fewer players in the market.
"A higher offer could have brought them round to the negotiating table," one stakeholder told The Guardian.
However, the clearer has itself rejected the substance of The Guardian report, issuing a brief statement late Monday: "In response to recent media speculation LCH.Clearnet, the leading independent clearing house, would like to clarify that it has not received an approach of any sort in relation to its ownership."
LCH.Clearnet has been the object of bid speculation in the past, as post-crisis regulatory initiatives drive up the value of clearing houses.
In October last year, the London-based clearer gave its users a greater stake in the company, ending a long running tussle between the DTCC and a consortium of banks led by Icap over its ownership.