By Gurmukh Singh 

Toronto, May 21 (IANS) With its merger with the London Stock Exchange still awaiting nod from the Canadian government, the Toronto Stock Exchange Friday rejected a rival bid by a Canadian group to acquire it.

Maple Group comprising nine Canadian banks and pension funds had made a $3.6-billion offer earlier this week to scuttle the foreign takeover of the country's largest market.

But in a statement Friday, the TMX Group Inc., which owns the Toronto Stock Exchange, said the rival bid was not superior to the terms offered by the London Stock Exchange. It said its board of directors rejects the new offer and plans to stick to the proposed merger with the London bourse.

"The board supports TMX Group's proposed merger with LSEG (London Stock Exchange Group) to form a globally competitive yet domestically focused exchange group with strong opportunities for growth," TMX Group chief Wayne Fox said.

"The board's view is that the merger with LSEG continues to be in the best interests of TMX Group and its shareholders and stakeholders."

Resorting to a hostile takeover of the Toronto market by going directly to shareholders may be one of the options available to Maple Group now.

The two bourses had announced their merger in February. But many Canadian banks and the government of Ontario province (whose capital is Toronto) fear it would dilute Toronto's importance as a major market and banking centre in North America.

With the market value of the London Stock Exchange (LSE) at about $3.87 billion and that of the TMX Group $2.99 billion, the two bourses proposed to form a $7-billion giant entity with offices in Toronto and London.

The Canadian government, which has opposed foreigner takeovers recently, has yet to approve the merger under the Investment Canada Act.