Last year, The Children’s Investment Fund helped stymie Deutsche Börse’s proposed acquisition of the London Stock Exchange. This year, it seems, it has set its sights on the New York Stock Exchange’s deal for pan-European exchange operator Euronext. According to The Independent, NYSE brokers have warned Euronext shareholders to be wary of Deutsche Börse’s rival bid for Paris-based Euronext, arguing that hedge funds, such as TCI, are conspiring to inflate its stock price and depress that of the NYSE Group. “You have to remember that TCI has a very, very large stake in Deutsche Börse, and their biggest concern is how to get out of that,” NYSE CEO John Thain said. “What is good for TCI is not necessarily good for Euronext or for its shareholders.” The fate of a fellow exchange executive, former Deutsche Börse CEO Werner Seifert, was very much on Thain’s mind. Of the ousted Seifert’s plan to purchase the LSE, Thain said, “that would have created one of the most successful and powerful exchange businesses in the world. In today’s world, he would look like a genius, but he got fired – by TCI.”
