Could Clearstream be up for sale?

Out here in blogger land one does get a certain sense of satisfaction when the mainstream media picks up on themes we have been blogging about. Just to jog your memories, on the 6 February, FinancialTech Insider posted a comment entitled,Deutsche Börse's next move, which ventured whether given the failure of its merger attempts with other exchanges, would the German exchange sell off parts of its business, including the ICSD Clearstream?

Well according to a report in The Wall Street Journal,Atticus Capital,which holds an 11.68% stake in Deutsche Börse,is keen to see it separate Luxembourg-based Clearstream International from the exchange and return cash to shareholders.

In the forthcoming March issue of financial-i-magazine, I pose the same question to Clearstream International's CEO Jeffrey Tessler, who maintains that Clearstream is an integral part of Deutsche Börse group, comprising 40% of its revenues.

But in the rapidly evolving exchange landscape, anything is possible it seems and no one should underestimate the persuasiveness of an exchange's shareholders, particularly if other shareholders start making similar demands.