(Bloomberg) -- London Stock Exchange Group Plc is in exclusive talks with Euronext NV over its sale of Borsa Italiana, according to a company statement.LSE said that it received and reviewed several competitive proposals from for bonds platform MTS and the Borsa Italiana group as a whole.

Euronext said in a separate statement Friday that it and Italian state-backed lender Cassa Depositi e Prestiti SpA had entered into exclusive talks with LSE together with Intesa Sanpaolo SpA.

The Italian government has been working for months to bring back to Italy the ownership of the Italian stock exchange and engineered a deal which include the state-backed lender CDP and the Italian lender Intesa Sanpaolo. Borsa Italiana is seen as a strategic asset in Italy because of its ownership of MTS SpA, a platform used to trade government bonds.

Italy last month also extended market watchdog Consob’s veto powers to cover sales or purchases of stakes of more than 10% in Borsa Italiana. Consob can oppose any transaction based on the “financial solidity” of the acquisition plan, the decree states.

©2020 Bloomberg L.P.