Euronext, the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and Nasdaq are understood to have made exploratory bid approaches to Liffe, the London futures and options exchange, which has received a formal approach from the London Stock Exchange.

Shares in Liffe jumped nearly 40% to £11.50 valuing the exchange at £220m (€353m) on the news from Liffe that it had received a number of approaches. The LSE confirmed that it has made an approach for the futures and derivatives exchange that may lead to a possible offer.