LONDON: London Stock Exchange Group Plc (LSE) chief executive officer David Schwimmer had a visit on Monday from an unexpected guest: Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing Ltd (HKEX) CEO Charles Li.

In a hastily called meeting, the 58-year-old Li told Schwimmer and LSE chairman Don Robert that he wanted to buy the three-century-old UK exchange, according to a source. The executives were caught off-guard, and were surprised when HKEX made an unsolicited bid for LSE less than 30 hours later, the source said.