Deutsche Börse and Euronext stepped up their wooing of the London Stock Exchange yesterday after holding separate meetings with its chief executive

Deutsche Börse and Euronext stepped up their wooing of the London Stock Exchange yesterday after holding separate meetings with its chief executive, Clara Furse. Werner Seifert, boss of the Deutsche Börse, has said he will pay 530p a share for the LSE but is now widely expected to have to increase his offer after Jean-François Theodore, his counterpart at Euronext, expressed an interest in tabling a bid. However, the Paris-based executive has not put forward a detailed enough proposal to warrant a formal response from the LSE. In contrast, a Deutsche Börse bid - made a week ago - was rejected on the grounds that it undervalued the exchange. The LSE's shares dropped 4.75p to 575p yesterday after reaching record highs on Monday on speculation over the price a possible bidding war might achieve. None of the sides was prepared to comment on the talks held at the LSE's new headquarters beside St Paul's, but sources described the discussions as constructive and amiable. Both Euronext and Deutsche Börse appear keen to win the approval of the LSE board for their approaches. Euronext has admitted that its approach might not even result in a definite offer. In any case, the City does not expect a huge amount of movement on the separate discussions over Christmas. Mr Seifert has made it clear that Ms Furse, who was appointed to the LSE after the ill-fated attempts at a German-British merger four years ago, could be offered a role in any combined exchange.