Canada’s junior stock exchange CSE has reached a deal to buy NSX, which operates the National Stock Exchange of Australia. CSE offered 3.5 Australian cents per share in the $14.4 million all-cash deal, representing a 59 per cent premium to NSX’s Friday closing price. It’s the CSE’s first acquisition since launching in 2003. (The Logic)

Talking point: The CSE has reportedly been pursuing NSX for 15 years. Both indices serve similar issuers, many of them early-stage tech and resource-sector firms. CSE chief executive Richard Carleton said the acquisition creates an opportunity to replicate the growth of the Canadian stock exchange with the much smaller Australian one. The deal would expand CSE’s geographical reach, and potentially make it easier for Canadian issuers to list in Australia, where they may fetch higher valuations. NSX management will continue operating the index locally.