London Stock Exchange Group (LSE) revealed yesterday it had finalised a deal to acquire data firm Refinitiv in a transaction worth £22.3bn.

The group is buying the company in an all-share transaction from Thomson Reuters and a consortium led by private equity firm Blackstone. The consortium includes an affiliate of Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and an affiliate of Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC.

As a result of the deal, Refinitiv shareholders will hold approximately a 37 per cent interest in LSE and voting rights for less than 30 per cent.

However, the deal is subject to approval from LSE shareholders and if it fails to complete, LSE has agreed to pay a termination fee of £198.3m to Refinitiv. The deal also has to receive clearance from competition authorities, with EU regulators expected to review the transaction.

The combined business is expected to generate revenue of over £6bn manually, will be chaired by LSE chairman Don Robert and led by its chief executive David Shwimmer. LSE also mentioned that Refinitiv chief executive David Craig will retain his role and also join LSE’s executive committee.

The transaction will create a leading, UK headquartered, global financial markets infrastructure (FMI) provider with a leading data and analytics business, significant capital markets capabilities across multiple asset classes, and a broad post-trade offering, well positioned for future growth in an evolving landscape.

Commenting on the transaction, Schwimmer said: “With the acquisition of Refinitiv, we will transform our position as a leading global Financial Markets Infrastructure group. Refinitiv brings highly complementary capabilities in data and capital markets, as well as deep customer relationships across a truly global business. We share a commitment to open access and to partnering with our customers to deliver innovative solutions across the financial markets value chain.

“Our shareholders and customers will benefit from attractive top line growth prospects, substantial cost and revenue synergies, as well as ongoing efficiency initiatives, and this transaction will ensure we are well positioned for future growth in an evolving landscape.”

Craig added: “LSE’s business is highly complementary with Refinitiv’s leading global data platform, transaction and distribution network. Our aim is to capture the opportunity of data which we believe is driving unprecedented change in the global financial community. The combined business will allow us to better serve customers across all regions.

“Our two companies both have strong heritages, a shared approach to open access and partnership, and we are excited to work with the LSE team to create a leading financial markets infrastructure group and to continue to invest in our business.”

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