The company raised its dividend for 2015 by 20% to 36p a share. The results did not mention ICE, the owner of the New York Stock Exchange, which this week revealed it was pondering a potential counterbid, raising the prospect of a bidding war. The LSE and Deutsche Börse said on 23 February that they were in talks to seal a "merger of equals" under which their key businesses would retain their brand names. The new holding company would be based in London.