The Scrutineer is not amused by (yet another) London Stock Exchange takeover bid

A word to the wise. If you're proposing a business takeover, don't do it in the part of the world watched over by the Scrutineer column of The Scotsman newspaper unless you've got solid credentials, a solid financial foundation, and are making what would likely strike a wary-in-his-bones business reporter as a reasonable offer. Martin Flanagan and company aren't the least shy about calling people onto the carpet. (I believe that would qualify as an understatement.)

The latest glare of disapproval, Australian chutzpah would be admirable if it were not so risible, opens with:

IT'S amazing that Macquarie Bank, would-be acquirer of the London Stock Exchange, wants to play out this sad little takeover farce to the very end.

...goes on midway through to say:

It is like offering someone a buoy when they are actually water-skiing with a smile.

...and ends with (emphasis mine):

But, even if the amount had remained at roughly half this level, shareholders should reject a bid short on logic, strapped for cash, creating a hostage to fortune because of its highly leveraged nature, and now not even very entertaining.

To be honest, I haven't been following the London-Stock-Exchange-up-for-grabs story (which seems to me to have been going on forever). The last time I heard, months and months ago I think it was, I seem to remember that some German outfit had thought it was poised to take it over.

(Pause while your hostess searches. Ah, here we go, and that information came from another Martin Flanagan Scrutineer volley, back in May. According to Flanagan, a failed bid for the London Stock Exchange by the head of the Frankfurt stock exchange -- who had made his first moves toward getting some control of London markets back in 1998 -- left another European player, a "Paris-to-Brussels bourse in prime position to try and circumvent the regulators.")

I'm having trouble getting comfortable with just the idea of allowing foreign control of a stock exchange. I'm not sure it falls under the same potential danger listing as foreign management of a nation's ports, but I have to admit it doesn't strike me at first glance as a necessarily good idea. But what do I know? (Not much on this particular subject, believe me. I'm just saying what my gut says.)

If anybody knows more about the whole swirl going on around the London Stock Exchange right now, feel free to weigh in. A little reassurance would be nice, but I'd settle for a more informed understanding regardless of the direction.