[freflellalafe]

Or is it really China?


Hong Kong Exchanges Bid for LME Beats out ICE

Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing Ltd., host to the world’s fifth-largest equity market, agreed to pay 1.39 billion pounds ($2.15 billion) for the London Metal Exchange, which handles more than 80 percent of global trade in industrial-metal futures.

LME investors will get 107.60 pounds per ordinary share in cash, with a vote scheduled before the end of next month, the bourses said today. The stock traded at 4.925 pounds in July 2011, before the LME said it was considering bids. JPMorgan Chase & Co., Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and closely held Metdist Ltd. are the biggest LME shareholders.

... Check out Metdist's site. http://www.metdist.com/ They seem well connected.
Little-Known Firm to Reap Millions in Exchange’s Sale


Q&A: How Did Hong Kong Exchanges Woo LME? So Far at Least
Who are the biggest shareholders?
JP Morgan is the biggest shareholder with a 10.8% stake held by various of its subsidiary firms, giving it a stake worth around GBP150 million based on the current offer price. Goldman Sachs holds the next largest stake at around 9.53%, followed by Metdist, the ring dealing firm owned by Lord Raj Bagri whose subsidiaries have a combined stake worth 9.39%.
It's interesting that none of these are mentioned in the morningstar report as shareholders.
http://investors.morningstar.com/own...&culture=en-us

Still trying to get the full shareholder structure. I am having trouble finding anyting definitive. I am looking for the real stake that China has in it.



Then this from ZH. Looks like we got Corzined again.

Four Bullet Points Explaining How JPMorgan Doubled Its Money From MF Global's Corpse In Seven Months



Submitted by Tyler Durden on 06/15/2012 14:57 -0400

Don't read this if you have high blood pressure or if you are a client of MF Global's, whose money is still held by JP Morgan.

• JPMorgan is put on MF Global bankruptcy committee on November 7, 2011
• Two weeks later, JPMorgan buys MF Global's 4.7% in LME for 39 million in a "competitive bidding" process
• 7 months later, on June 15 2012 the LME gets an offer for $2.2 billion from China's HKEX, making JPM's stake worth $103 million
• JPMorgan makes over 100% cash on cash return in 7 months while MFGlobal money is still stuck at JPM.

In the meantime, Jon Corzine was, is and will always be a free man.
* * *
P.S. the topic of why China is buying the world's biggest metals exchange, one which in a lovely harbinger of things to come 2 months ago very symbolically replaced Sterling settlement with Renminbi, is a different matter entirely. One which just may have to do with the fact that domestic Chinese companies have unprecedented stockpiles of everything, pledged as collateral everywhere. Collateral whose prices would be easier to manipulate if one also controlled the exchange where they all trade...
h/t Zach