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LSE says Deutsche Boerse merger could mean 1250 job cuts

The London Stock Exchange Group (LSE) has said its forthcoming merger with Deutsche Boerse could lead to as many as 1,250 job losses.

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The combined firm, which would create a dominant European exchange company, would lose a net 700 positions because it may create 550 jobs, Deutsche Boerse and LSE said in a filing today.

About one in seven existing roles would need to disappear to achieve planned cost savings of about £350million by the third year after completion of the deal to create the world’s biggest exchanges group by income.

Tarek Al-Wazir, economy minister for the State of Hesse, where Deutsche Boerse is based in Frankfurt, made the statement after the exchange houses published a shareholder prospectus for the deal yesterday.

The deal is expected to result in extra revenues of €160m in the third year after completion, rising to €250m a year in the fifth year. The two companies have said that they will proceed with the merger regardless of the outcome.

To do so, the combined group plans to enlarge its geographic footprint, including boosting its businesses in North America and Asia.

The newly merged company will keep both the London and Frankfurt headquarters.

LSE shareholders are scheduled to vote on the merger on July 4, which will follow the United Kingdom referendum vote on whether to remain in the European Union. Deutsche Boerse has around 5,283 staff, according to its annual report for 2015.

Britons will vote on June 23 on whether to remain in the 28-member European Union, a choice with far-reaching consequences for politics, the economy, defence and diplomacy in Britain and far beyond.

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The LSE group already owns Milan-based Borsa Italiana. That group would also better be able to compete with the likes of Intercontinental Exchange Inc. and CME Group Inc., which have grown considerably over the past decade along with Asian rivals.

Deutsche Boerse's Takeover of LSE May Result in 1250 Job Cuts