London 2012 cycling venue opens (AFP)

LONDON (AFP) – Olympic hero Sir Chris Hoy christened the London 2012 cycling track on Tuesday as the state-of-the-art velodrome became the first London Olympics venue to be completed.

Four-time Olympic champion Hoy was joined for an early morning ride at the east London venue by fellow Beijing gold medallists Victoria Pendleton and Jason Kenny as well as a clutch of British sprint stars.

After gaining first-hand experience of the track, Hoy declared himself impressed with the 6,000-capacity velodrome which is notable for its dramatic sweeping roof.

"Having been involved in a very small way in the design process in the early stages, it's amazing to see the velodrome finally completed, and to be able to have ridden on it gives me a feel for what it's going to be like in a year and a half's time," Hoy enthused. "I can't wait!"

Building work on the facility began in March 2009 and Tuesday marked the formal handover of the venue from Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) to the London 2012 organisers.

London 2012 chairman Lord Coe described the centre as "a stunning venue built for champions".

The velodrome track - which officials are billing as potentially the fastest in the world - was built with Siberian pine.

A team of 26 carpenters took eight weeks to install the track while more than 350,000 nails were used to secure its timber surface.

"In delivering the velodrome on time and to budget we have completed our first Olympic Park venue and our biggest milestone to date," ODA chairman John Armitt said.

"The striking architecture of the velodrome and the medal prospects of our world-leading cyclists mean the venue will become one of the defining images from the Games, and a landmark new building for future generations to enjoy."

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London Bourse, Canada's TMX to merge

LSE's Xavier Rolet is set to become chief executive of the merged group.TMX Group is the operator of Canada's largest stock exchangeCombined group will have dual stock market listing, jointly headquartered in London and TorontoLSE's Xavier Rolet is set to become chief executive of the merged group
(FT) -- Shares in London Stock Exchange surged almost 8 per cent on Wednesday after it agreed an all-share merger with TMX Group, operator of Canada's largest stock exchange, creating a platform with the world's largest number of mining company listings at a time of surging commodity prices.
The deal is the first big strategic move by Xavier Rolet, chief executive who took over from Clara Furse in 2009, to secure the future of the UK bourse.
However, in spite of the share price surge there were signs that some analysts were lukewarm on the deal. Citi described the deal as "defensive" and said it would distract the management from its earlier stated strategy.
"We worry that this deal looks likely to take up management time and energy in the short term. We see this putting the LSE's existing growth strategies on the backburner, which we view as a negative," the bank said in a note.
The combined group, which will have a dual stock market listing and be jointly headquartered in London and Toronto, will be worth just under £5bn ($7.7bn), including debt. It will have a combined 6,700 listings, making it the world's largest exchange by numbers of companies traded.
Mr Rolet is set to become chief executive of the merged group. Wayne Fox, chairman of TMX Group, would become chairman and Thomas Kloet, TMX chief executive, would be president. The chief financial officer of the enlarged group will be Michael Ptasznik, currently CFO of TMX.
We are aiming at nothing less than becoming a true powerhouse in the global exchange business.
--Xavier Rolet
TMX investors are to receive 2.9963 ordinary shares in the enlarged group for each share held in TMX. LSE shareholders will own 55 percent of the enlarged capital and TMX shareholders will take the remaining 45 percent.
LSE shares rose 68p or 7.6 percent to 960p, valuing the share capital at more than £2.5bn. TMX closed at C$40.28, giving Canada's largest exchange a market capitalization of C$3bn.
Based on the closing prices of the exchanges on Tuesday the combined company would have a market capitalization of about £4.2bn ($6.7bn).
The deal, which requires the approval from both provincial and federal Canadian authorities, where there are restrictions on an entity owning more than 10 per cent of an exchange, is expected to be earnings accretive for both LSE and TMX shareholders in the first full year following its completion.
The companies are targeting annual cost savings of £35m ($56.2) by the end of the second year of merger and a revenue boost of £35m in the third year of the combination growing to £100m ($160m) in the fifth year.
Mr Rolet welcomed the agreement with TMX and set out his ambition to become a leading global exchange.
"This new international leader, marrying the right cost structure, financial strength, technological expertise and product portfolio, will be strongly positioned to capitalize on growth opportunities in emerging markets and deliver them to our customers in North America, Europe and beyond."
He added: "We are aiming at nothing less than becoming a true powerhouse in the global exchange business."
Borse Dubai, LSE's largest investor, Italian bank shareholders UniCredit and Intesa Sanpaolo, as well as Qatar Investment Authority, which owns 15 percent of the LSE, favor the deal.
The deal is the latest in the sector which faces the growing threat of competition from alternative trading platforms such as Chi-X Europe and Bats Europe.
SGX, Singapore's exchange, agreed a $7.8bn bid to takeover Australia's ASX in January, to form Asia's fourth-biggest bourse. The deal valued ASX at 25 times its 2009 earnings. LSE trades at about 10 times earnings.
TMX shares have risen strongly on the back of consolidation hopes. The group's subsidiaries include the Toronto Stock Exchange and the Montreal derivatives exchange.
TMX also has a 19.9 percent stake in EDX London, a small derivatives exchange run by the LSE.
TMX markets itself as the world's leading resources market, but the LSE has also capitalized on the commodities boom.
Mining and energy companies account for 34 percent of the companies on LSE's benchmark FTSE 100 index, up from 29 percent three years ago.
TMX's main board and TSX Ventures exchange, which specializes in small-cap listings, have a combined 3,900 listings between them.
© The Financial Times Limited 2011
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