Bells begin to toll for Seifert after LSE turns him down
January 30, 2005
Frankfurt - If Werner G Seifert had pulled it off, he would have been Europe's "Mr Exchange". After his bid for the London Stock Exchange (LSE) failed again this month, the bells have begun to toll for the ambitious chief of Deutsche Boerse.
Four years after his first raid on the LSE, the Deutsche Boerse's chief executive is more than determined to create the world's second-largest exchange after Wall Street.
The merger has been the Swiss-born visionary's dream, ever since he brushed the cobwebs off the stuck-in-the-mud provincial Frankfurt exchange with the dull charm of a technocrat and built it into a pan-German market and global player
He has never given up his dream of a European share platform |
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"He has never given up his dream of a European share platform for institutional investors. He will do everything to make sure that it will work out this time," said Christine Bortenlaenger, the head of the Munich stock exchange.
"He won't get a third chance," an analyst said.
A press lashing over the failure in 2000 of Deutsche Boerse's first move on the LSE dulled his appetite for a high-profile media presence, but this should not be misunderstood for shyness.
Seifert is said to be an uncomfortable negotiator, looking for quick deals and answers, who can become vociferous in meetings to ensure that, quite contrary to the usual Swiss consensus approach, his view wins through.
While in the run-up to Deutsche Boerse's new LSE approach, he was credited with a more mellow tone, diplomatically lobbying behind the scenes rather than shooting from the hip. Slow progress in the talks about a deal is said to be have fired his impatience.
With continental rival Euronext joining the race, any talk of foot-dragging as merits are weighed piques Seifert further, driving him to the point where circumvention of the LSE board and a direct approach to LSE investors becomes an option.
The LSE has rejected Seifert's £1.3 billion (R14.61 billion) offer, saying it undervalues the exchange.
Fitting with Seifert's field marshal style, a source familiar with the talks has quoted him as saying "that they either give in or he comes with his tanks".
Frankfurt has been always too small for Anglophile Seifert - the only Swiss heading a German blue chip firm apart from Deutsche Bank chief executive Josef Ackermann.
Born in Winterthur on July 4 1949, Seifert went to school in Vienna and in Koenigstein near Frankfurt, where he later studied economics.
Kicking off at consultants McKinsey - known for a hard-nosed approach to corporate overhauls - Seifert worked in Germany, New York and Tokyo and rose to become a partner in four years.
In 1987, he joined the world's second-largest reinsurer, Swiss Re, as manager and tripled its direct insurance business in six years, catching the eye of former Deutsche Bank manager Rolf Breuer, who helped put him at the head of the exchange in 1993.
Seifert, who avoids the media where he can and rarely grants interviews, is known as a collector of vintage cars, a pipe smoker and a jazz lover.
With a concert pianist for a mother, the MBA graduate indulges in playing the Hammond organ at concerts in Frankfurt and abroad, cooking at home in his spare time.
Seifert is divorced with one daughter. - Reuters
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