London Stock Exchange mulls Italian disposal

THE London Stock Exchange Group could sell the owner of the Milan stock exchange to convince European regulators to allow its $27bn (£20.6bn) takeover of data provider Refinitiv.

LSEG said it was in exploratory talks over the possible sale of part or all of Borsa Italiana as European regulators scrutinise the exchange’s planned tieup, but there is no certainty it will proceed with any sale.

LSEG admitted that the Refinitiv takeover may not complete until early next year as the European Commission is conducting an in-depth review into whether the transaction could damage competition.

The exchange has long insisted that the deal, announced last August, would be completed by the end of 2020.

LSEG’S revenues rose to almost £1.1bn in the first half of the year, a 4pc increase on the same period in 2019. Pre-tax profits were almost unchanged at £362m.

David Schwimmer, chief executive, said the company had delivered “good financial performance and demonstrated strong operational resilience”.

The former Goldman Sachs banker said most LSEG staff would work from home for the rest of the year, with up to 30pc of staff gradually returning to its offices around the world by December subject to local guidelines.

The exchange said that discussions could result in the sale of either the bond trading business MTS or the entire Borsa Italiana arm.

The combination of MTS with Refinitiv’s stake in Tradeweb was seen as one of the areas in which a merger could drive growth for LSEG.