The London Stock Exchange (LSE), which is fighting an unsolicited bid from OM Gruppen, said that it would reposition its new technology-laden exchange techMARK and its small companies market AIM as international markets to buttress its position.

The ultimate aim would be to create a European growth market, according to the LSE statement, which relayed a speech delivered over the weekend by beleaguered London Stock Exchange chairman Don Cruickshank. Cruickshank told investors and shareholders that the best way forward for the London Stock Exchange was not necessarily through a merger or alliances, but through "the internationalisation of our services".

He reiterated that the OM takeover bid, which valued the London Stock Exchange at little more than 800 million pounds (1.33 billion euros, 1.16 billion dollars) was "a poor deal for shareholders and customers alike".

Cruickshank said: "We don't have to do deals. We may at some future time wish to do so. But we don't have to."

The London Stock Exchange has been caught flat-footed in the rush of traditional national stock markets to adapt to the new market realities brought on by electronic trading and trans-national mergers.

Its own rather ponderous alliance with Frankfurt's Deutsche Boerse was torpedoed by the daring OM bid for London Stock Exchange, and the 227-year-old London market has been urgently trying to talk up its strengths ever since.

Cruickshank highlighted the AIM and techMARK as two of London's strengths, and said the LSE would try to extend "the reach of these markets and their profile across Europe". He said: "We will be seeking listings from other European jurisdictions. We will seek new members. We will seek to recruit nominated advisers from other jurisdictions.

"We have already seen significant success with techMARK gaining listings from Israel, Canada and other overseas countries," Cruickshank said. "Our aim is to grow this significantly over the next year to create a European Growth Market based on techMARK."

The London Stock Exchange (LSE) is planning to set up a European market for growth stocks, putting itself in direct competition with the Neuer Markt exchange run by the German bourse, the Financial Times reported Monday.

The move reflects the LSE's new "go-it-alone strategy" in the face of a hostile bid by Swedish technology company OM Group and following the breakdown of the iX merger proposal with Deutsche Borse, the paper reported.

The creation of a competitor to the Neuer Markt, the biggest market in Europe for new economy stocks, seems to rule out direct future co-operation with the Frankfurt bourse, the FT said. The new market will be based on Techmark, the LSE's existing listing segment for technology, media and telecommunications stocks, the paper reported.

In mid-September the London Stock Exchange announced the scrapping of the project of merging with the Frankfurt bourse in order to concentrate on defending itself against the hostile Swedish bid. OM Gruppen manages the Stockholm bourse.