1. Budding bids July 1''8 London Stock Exchange discusses strategic alliance with Deutsche Börse April 2000 Alliance turns into full–blown merger talks May 2000 LSE and Deutsche announce merger plans to create iX . July 2000 LSE demutualises August 2000 OM of Sweden launches hostile bid for LSE September 2000 LSE calls off Deutsche merger November 2000 OM bid fails December 2000 Rumours of LSE bid by Nasdaq, the US tech–stock market January 2001 Clara Furse appointed chief executive of LSE July 2001 LSE shares listed September 2001 LSE admits it wants to take over Liffe; fails next month April 2002 Talk that Nasdaq has again approached the LSE October 2004 Rumours of possible bid approach by Deutsche Börse December 2004 LSE admits approach from Deutsche Börse but rejects the offer.

2. After Nasdaq backed away from its proposed $4.2 billion LSE offer when the LSE rebuffed it, speculation mounted that NYSE Group Inc., operator of the New York Stock Exchange, might be a suitor for the LSE.

3. But with Nasdaq holding a big slug of LSE shares, it could be difficult for either the NYSE or Euronext to pull off an LSE deal.

4. In 1'77 she edited My LSE, in which a large number of former students at the LSE recalled their time there.

5. Nasdaq declined to comment about the LSE yesterday.