Deutsche Boerse sees no reason to raise its bid for the London Stock Exchange, its chief executive said on Tuesday, as he pledged to win over Boerse shareholders that have opposed the planned purchase. "There is a good price out there and we want to stick to it. Besides, it is the only price out there," Werner Seifert told a news conference following Boerse's annual results.

Boerse has twice offered 530 pence per LSE share, but London has rejected the proposal that values Europe's top equities market at 1.3 billion pounds ($2.48 billion) as too low, while continuing talks with Boerse and rival Euronext.

Euronext, which has yet to make an offer, had no comment.

"530p is a rich price and an adequate start. We see no reason to change it," Seifert said.

He noted the LSE share price has been trending lower in recent weeks from a record high of 600p in December just after London rejected Boerse's offer for the first time.

Two hedge funds, TCI and Atticus, which own about 12 percent of Deutsche Boerse between them, have been against Boerse's plan to buy the LSE, fearing the German exchange operator will overpay and destroy shareholder value and have called instead for a share repurchase to return surplus cash to investors.

Copyright Reuters, 2005