(Reuters) – London’s FTSE 100 rose on Monday as talks of a possible deal drove shares of London Stock Exchange higher, along with the shares of Just Eat, which surged following an all-share deal with rival Takeaway.com.
The main index <.FTSE> added 0.5% and the mid-cap FTSE 250 <.FTMC> was largely unchanged by 0715 GMT, even after Sports Direct <SPD.L> tanked after delayed results on Friday showed lower core earnings and a potential tax bill.
Shares of Just Eat <JE.L> soared 23% to 782.4 pence and hit highest since March after the company agreed to an all-share deal with an implied value of 731 pence a share with rival Takeaway.com <TKWY.AS>.
London Stock Exchange <LSE.L> surged nearly 12% to an all-time high after the company confirmed late on Friday it was in talks to buy financial data analytics provider Refinitiv Holdings for $27 billion, including debt.
Thomson Reuters <TRI.TO>, the parent company of Reuters, holds a 45% stake in Refinitiv.
On the mid-cap index, Sports Direct tumbled 17.3% after its delayed results statement showed annual core earnings fell due to problems integrating House of Fraser and as it warned it could face a 674 million euro tax bill from Belgium.
(Reporting by Shashwat Awasthi in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta)
