The statement that Chi-X Europe has received an initial enquiry from an anonymous third party about a takeover would have surprised few of its customers - it has been the runaway winner among the new breed of equity trading firms and now operates the largest pan-European platform.

This month Chi-X Europe had a market share of 17.4%, second only to the London Stock Exchange, which has 21.6% across its UK and Italian-based exchanges. The consortium-based trading venue is already bigger in Europe than some of the world's most established exchanges: NYSE-owned Euronext, has 16.4% of European trading across its French, Dutch, Belgian and Portuguese exchanges, and Deutsche Börse claims 12.7%, according to data from Thomson Reuters.