TSX agrees to talk with suitor Maple Group

The company that runs the Toronto Stock Exchange is willing to talk with the group of investmentfunds and bankswhich have made a hostile bid for the exchange.

TMX Group Inc. said late Thursday that its board has authorized management to talk to Maple Group Acquisition Corp. "regarding its unsolicited offer."

The board is not making anyrecommendation to shareholders about the Maple bid, which is currently set to run until Aug.8.

"The commencement of discussions is a positive step," Maple spokesman Luc Bertrand said in response to the TMX announcement, while warning that there is no guarantee that the talks will lead to an agreement backed by the TMX directors.

TMX endorsed a friendly takeover by the London Stock Exchange made early this year, but that deal fell apart June 29, a week after Mapleraised its competing bid. Maple upped its offer to $50a TMXshare andraised theproportion ofshares to be bought for cashto 80 per cent.It valued the deal at about $3.8 billion.

A majority of TMX shareholders backed the LSE bid, but not the two-thirds needed, the exchanges said.