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London market told 'pay up'
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December 13, 2000: 9:02 a.m. ET
Germany's Deutsche Boerse claims $9M from LSE for breaking deal
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LONDON (CNNfn) - Frankfurt stock exchange operator Deutsche Boerse turned from the London Stock Exchange's friend into its foe Wednesday, claiming  10 million ($9 million) from the British market operator for abandoning their merger pact.
The U.K. exchange pulled out of the deal in September to focus on fending off an unsolicited takeover bid by Sweden's OM Gruppen, which was subsequently rejected by the LSE's shareholders. The amoung claimed is equal to abour 15 percent of the 66 million Deutsche Boerse earned it its last full fiscal year.
"We will be contesting their claim vigorously," said John Wallace, a spokesman for the LSE. He declined to give details of the terms of the two bourses' merger agreement, such as whether there were any clauses calling for penalties if either side pulled out of the deal, which was to have formed Europe's largest exchange, known as iX.
Wallace said he did not know whether Deutsche Boerse had filed a lawsuit against the LSE. "It's not a writ, not a summons ... it's a letter," he said.
A Deutsche Boerse spokesman declined to comment.
Meanwhile, Wallace had no comment on a report in London's Guardian newspaper Wednesday, which cited documents that said the U.S. Nasdaq stock market has set a one-month deadline on talks toward a takeover of the LSE. If the discussions fall through, the operator of the U.S. high-tech exchange will seek an alliance with Deutsche Boerse, the paper said. 
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