Maple Group has pushed its offer deadline for the proposed takeover of Toronto Stock Exchange operator () to February 29, the consortium said Tuesday.

Maple said it is in on-going discussions with regulators and has made numerous submissions including submitting a proposed CDS pricing model in a bid to get the approvals it needs to complete the deal, which values TMX at roughly $3.8 billion.

The board of directors continues to unanimously recommend shareholders accept and tender their shares under the Maple offer.

Maple, which is a consortium of 13 Canadian financial institutions, also plans to acquire alternative trading platform Alpha Group, and securities clearinghouse, the Canadian Depository for Securities, owned by the bidding banks.

Critics have said the plan to merge the CDS clearing house and the alternative Alpha trading system with TMX’s operations could create a monopoly that would favour the banks and insurance companies, who would also own the exchange.

Regulators have been concerned about the agreement giving the proposed organization too much control of the prices of stock trades and other fees.

Regulatory approval from Canada's competition body, as well as provincial securities watchdogs, is needed for the deal to go through.

Currently, Canada does not have a single securities regulator such as the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission or the Financial Services Authority in the U.K.

In June, the London Stock Exchange (LSE:LON) abandoned its friendly $3.3 billion offer to acquire TMX due to insufficient shareholder support.

"We continue to believe the Maple transaction will substantially benefit Canada’s capital markets and its participants, improve the ability of market participants to manage risk and encourage the development of new offerings," Maple’s Luc Bertrand said in a statement.

’s chief executive, Tom Kloet, reiterated: "This transaction is the right path forward for and provides important potential benefits for Canada’s capital markets and capital markets participants."

Shares of rose 22 cents to $42.42 Tuesday afternoon in Toronto.