The Borsa Italiana S.p.A. and London Stock Exchange Group plc completed their merger today.

The firms say that the closing creates the leading diversified exchange group in Europe and the platform for additional strong growth on a European and global scale. The combined group boasts 48% of the FTSEurofirst 100 by market capitalisation and the most liquid order book by value and volume traded. It also claims to be Europe’s leading market for electronic trading of ETFs and securitised derivatives; and the leading fixed income market, through its interest in MTS.

Commenting on the completion of the merger, Clara Furse, chief executive of the combined firm, said, “As the leading diversified exchange group in Europe, we will accelerate growth through the provision of a better and wider range of products and services to an increasingly international customer base. This merger will help us to crystallise our vision to be the world’s capital market.”

Massimo Capuano, deputy chief executive, added, “The combined group has an exciting future. In addition to continuing the organic development of our business operations, we are focused on the programme of integration that will ensure the realisation of merger benefits and the creation of superior shareholder value.”

Following the listing of an additional 79,449,753 shares in LSEG, the company has an issued share capital of 279,331,382 with a market value of £4.6 billion based on today’s opening share price of £1.65.