LONDON STOCK EXCHANGE PLC 
LONDON (Reuters) - The London Stock Exchange Group (>> London Stock Exchange Group Plc) said it could hive off the French half of its LCH.Clearnet arm in a bid to ease European Union concerns about exchange's planned merger with Deutsche Boerse
LCH.Clearnet is already one of the world's largest clearing houses for shares and derivatives, and the EU's competition unit said on Wednesday it was concerned over what would happen to competition if it was allowed to combine with Deutsche Boerse's Eurex clearing arm.
The London Stock Exchange said it wanted to "address proactively" the anti-trust concerns raised by the European Commission.
"LSEG confirms that LSEG and LCH Group Limited intend to explore a potential sale of LCH SA, LCH Group Limited's French-regulated operating subsidiary," the London exchange said in a statement.
LCH.Clearnet was formed by a merger in 2003 of the London Clearing House and Clearnet of France.
"Any potential sale of LCH SA would be subject to the review and approval by the European Commission in connection with the recommended merger of LSEG and Deutsche Börse," the London exchange said.
"It would also be conditional on the successful closing of the merger."
The LSE could be forced by Brussels to hive off Clearnet in any case in return for merger approval.
Analysts have said that a potential buyer for Clearnet would be Euronext, the exchange group that trades French, Belgian, Dutch and Portuguese shares and has opposed the London-Frankfurt merger.
French President Francois Hollande wants euro-denominated clearing, an area dominated by LCH.Clearnet in London, to shift to the euro zone, and a euro zone buyer of Clearnet could go some way to achieving that.
(This version of the story has been refiled to add "French" to headline)
(Reporting by Huw Jones. Editing by Jane Merriman)
