Nasdaq has made a £2.4bn (€3.6bn) bid for the London Stock Exchange. It comes just days after arch-rival New York Stock Exchange started building a warchest for foreign takeovers and less than two weeks after the LSE fought off a hostile bid from Australia's Macquarie Bank.

The LSE, which is being advised by Merrill Lynch and Lehman Brothers on the deal, immediately rejected the pre-conditional approach at 950p per share, saying it "substantially undervalues' the company.