“It’s hard to say, it’s hard to say,” she said during a panel discussion at the 59th World Federation of Exchanges General Assembly & Annual Meeting on Wednesday.
Asked whether HKEX might consider acquiring a different target, Cha said: “It’s hard to say too” —leading to laughter from the audience.
Nevertheless, she added that HKEX will not rule it out.
According to Cha, HKEX had wanted to make the offer for LSE in September last year, but decided not to do so given the uncertainty emanating from Brexit.
Yet, as it turned out, Brexit did not happen on March 31. And so, HKEX made the offer last month, thinking it was a “better timing”.
HKEX’s decision to withdraw its acquisition offer for LSE was a disappointing move, conceded Cha.
“But [if we were] to move forward [with the offer], we would be going into hostile territory, which is not something we have intended,” she said.
