Wall Street Journal – Deutsche Börse AG’s supervisory board reaffirmed the stock-exchange operator’s business model Friday, defying activist hedge funds that had been seeking a change in strategy after this year’s steep fall in the company’s share price.<\/p>\n
"The ongoing implementation and continuation of the existing strategy of the integrated business model including its further development [are] the best conditions to further increase value for all shareholders and customers of the group," Deutsche Börse said in a statement after an extraordinary supervisory board meeting.<\/p>\n
The company has three main businesses: its Eurex derivatives arm, a share-trading platform called Xetra, and Clearstream, which handles post-trade processing.<\/p>\n
Deutsche Börse shares rose 0.8% to €63.44 ($90.19) Friday. Its stock has fallen more than 50% this year.<\/p>\n
The board meeting was convened after the company’s biggest investors — activist hedge funds The Children’s Investment Fund LLP and Atticus Capital LP, which together control 19% of votes in Deutsche Börse — joined forces to explore options for creating shareholder value at the company. The hedge funds haven’t presented any formal proposals.<\/p>\n