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London Stock Exchange Eyes Brydon As Chairman

London Stock Exchange Eyes Brydon As Chairman

Donald Brydon, a former chairman of the London Metal Exchange (LME), is being lined up to take on the same role at its more famous cousin, the London Stock Exchange (LSE), Sky News has learnt.

Mr Brydon is said to be in advanced discussions with the board of the LSE about the post, with an announcement possible within days, according to a person involved in the process.

If he does take the role, it would come as he prepares to step down as the chairman of Royal Mail, having helped to steer the postal operator through its 2013 privatisation.

Mr Brydon was among Royal Mail board members present at the opening of trading at the LSE's City headquarters as the company made its controversial stock market debut.

A prominent City figure, Mr Brydon's long career is expected to be well-received by shareholders in the LSE, which has diversified from a domestic equities exchange into a broad financial markets infrastructure provider in recent years.

A former fund management executive with BZW and AXA, Mr Brydon went on to chair the LME, Smiths Group and Taylor Nelson Sofres, the market research firm, and now chairs Sage Group, the software developer, and the Medical Research Council.

The LSE could not be reached for comment on Sunday about the appointment, which a source said was being overseen by headhunters at Spencer Stuart, a leading search firm.

Its new chairman will replace Chris Gibson-Smith, who announced last year that he would step down after 12 years in the role - an unusually long tenure for the chair of one of the UK’s blue-chip companies.

During Mr Gibson-Smith's time at the helm, the LSE has seen off takeover bids from Deutsche Boerse and Macquarie, the Australian bank, and seen its share price rise more than eightfold.

The LSE now has a market value of £8.25bn, and has been transformed from prey to predator through a string of acquisitions, including those of LCH.Clearnet, the clearing house, and FTSE Group, the indices provider.

One of the new chairman's likely assignments will at some stage be to identify a successor to the LSE's highly regarded chief executive, Xavier Rolet, who has himself been in the job for more than six years.

The LSE now generates more than half its revenues from outside the UK and now operates across what it calls the full trading cycle in a range of asset classes.

It is currently in the process of selling the US asset management arm of the Frank Russell financial data firm that it bought last year.

Mr Brydon could also not be reached for comment on Sunday.