£50billion talks in megadeal weekend

THE City has been swept by a mega-merger frenzy after negotiations on £50billion of deals were confirmed yesterday.

The London Stock Exchange is in discussions over a £42 billion union to create a global trading and financial information powerhouse.

It said yesterday it is in advanced talks that could see it combine with Refinitiv Holdings, a London and New York data firm that was spun out of financial media company Thomson Reuters only last year.

Later in the day, online food delivery company Just Eat confirmed talks with Amsterdambased rival Takeaway.com for a £9billion merger. Just Eat has been under pressure from US hedge fund Cat Rock Capital Management to merge with a rival.

Last month Madame Tussauds owner Merlin Entertainments agreed to a £5.9billion takeover by the owners of Lego, and webuyanycar.com owner BCA Marketplace agreed a £1.9 billion offer from private equity firm TDR. And two weeks ago, private equity-backed Stonegate, owner of the Slug & Lettuce chain of bars, agreed a £3billion takeover to buy pub owner Ei and create a group of nearly 5,000 outlets.

Refinitiv sells data and market infrastructure to financial firms. If successful, the combination will pit the London Stock Exchange against financial media and data groups such as Bloomberg. Refinitiv was sold to a group of investors including US private equity giant Blackstone for $17 billion (£13.7 billion) in October. The LSE, confirming a report on Friday evening, said the deal would value Refinitiv at $27 billion.