Hong Kong Exchanges bids $39 billion to take over London Stock Exchange

LONDON (Reuters) - Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing has made an unsolicited $39 billion (31.5 billion pounds) takeover bid for the London Stock Exchange , an offer contingent on the LSE ditching its acquisition of data company Refinitiv.The combination would help both exchanges compete better with rivals like ICE and CME from the United States. The LSE has long sought to bolster its presence in Asia and recently launched a link scheme with HKEX rival Shanghai."The board of HKEX believes a..