London Stock Exchange in talks to combine with Refinitiv

Deal would create exchanges and data powerhouse 18 months after sale by Thomson

The London Stock Exchange Group is in talks to combine with Refinitiv in a deal that would create a global exchanges and data powerhouse, according to multiple people briefed on the matter.

A deal for all or large parts of Refinitiv, carved out of Thomson Reuters only last year in a deal with Blackstone, would also transform the LSE into the main rival to billionaire Michael Bloomberg’s financial news and data empire.

A transaction may be announced as soon as next week, two of these people said. These people cautioned that there was no certainty that an agreement would be reached.

The LSE has a market value of about £19.3bn and a net debt of about £1bn. Refinitiv, whose Eikon terminals are the main rival on trading floors around financial centres to Bloomberg, was valued at $20bn

last year.

It was bought by a private equity consortium led by Blackstone, which acquired a majority of the business from Thomson Reuters, the news and data group.

The exact price that LSE would be paying for Refinitiv and the structure of the deal could not be learnt. However, it is believed to have already begun sounding out debt markets to raise funds for the transaction.

If consummated, the deal would instantly transform the LSE, which is best known for running stock and derivatives exchanges, into a more diversified market data and analytics leader under David Schwimmer, the former Goldman Sachs banker.

Mr Schwimmer was named chief executive of the LSE last April after a multi-month search to replace Xavier Rolet, the Frenchman who ended his eight-year run at the group following a governance crisis. The talks come at a time when London’s role as a global financial centre is facing questions, with the UK preparing to withdraw from the EU under its new prime minister Boris Johnson.