"iX-international exchanges is the right concept for shareholders, market participants and financial centers in London and Frankfurt." This was the point emphasized by Deutsche Börse's chief executive officer, Dr. Werner G. Seifert, at the official opening ceremony for the company's new corporate headquarters in Frankfurt on Wednesday. Seifert said the Executive Board of Deutsche Börse was sorry to see the process of establishing iX-international exchanges disturbed by the hostile takeover bid by OM. Under the British rules for takeovers, however, the London Stock Exchange's announced postponement of the vote by LSE shareholders on the merger was unavoidable, he said. Deutsche Börse, for its part, sees no reason to
deviate from the procedure agreed upon for the vote by its own shareholders on this basis. The LSE Board had turned down the takeover bid by OM for the second time on Tuesday.
Over 300 guests from politics, business and the media attended the opening of the Neue Börse, the new corporate headquarters of the Deutsche Börse Group in Frankfurt. Words of welcome were delivered by the State of Hesse's Minister-President Roland Koch, Frankfurt's Lord Mayor Petra Roth and Dr. Rolf-E.
Breuer, Supervisory Board chairman of Deutsche Börse
AG.
The new complex is designed to further enhance teamwork, facilitate communication and integration and enable a flexible working environment. The move that began in June will be completed by November and all 1,200 employees from various locations will then be working together in the new building.