Singapore Exchange (SGX) (SGXL.SI) will try to push through its proposed US$7.8 billion ($10.1 billion) acquisition of Australian stock exchange ASX (ASX.AX) despite strong opposition in Australia, SGX CEO Magnus Bocker said in an interview with the Straits Times newspaper today.

“All the reactions that I have seen so far, I am not really surprised by,” Bocker told the Singapore paper.

“We need to give it a sincere and good try,” he added. He said the merger of the Singapore and Australian bourses was in the interest of both countries and offered many benefits to listed companies, investors and brokers.

The Singapore exchange’s planned takeover of ASX to create Asia’s fourth largest bourse by volume has been cleared by Australia’s competition regulator but faces strong opposition from politicians in Australia.

Australia’s Parliament must vote to lift an ownership cap for the deal to go through.

Bocker said that while SGX and ASX would continue to operate as separate entities after the proposed takeover, there were efficiencies to be gained from sharing technology platforms and product development.