Brussels to block LSE-Deutsche Borse merger in coming days, reports say

London Stock Exchange Group's proposed merger with Deutsche Boerse will be blocked by European Commission antitrust regulators, according to reports on Wednesday.

The UK stock exchange group had warned last month that it felt the merger was unlikely to be approved by the Commission due to "unexpected" demands the competition regulators had placed on the deal.

Reuters reported that three sources familiar with the matter had told it the deal would be vetoed "within a matter of days".

Although the LSE had made an improved offer to sell parts of its clearing arm in order to clear competition hurdles, Brussels regulators demanded the FTSE 100-listed company divest its ownership stake in MTS, an electronic trading platform for European government bonds and other fixed income securities, which LSE felt was a "disproportionate" step for the company.

LSE said any change of control of MTS would require approval from the Italian authorities, which were not keen on the idea, as well as triggering parallel regulatory approval processes in other jurisdictions.

The company refused to commit to the divestment and did not submit a remedy proposal.