LONDON, July 31 — The London Stock Exchange Group said today it could sell the Milan Stock Exchange in order to win approval from Brussels for its planned purchase of US financial data provider Refinitiv.
The company revealed in a results statement that it is exploring the sale of its shareholding in MTS, an Italian electronic trading platform that specialises in European government bonds, as well as its Borsa Italiana division.
LSEG had unveiled a blockbuster US$27 billion (RM114.5 billion) takeover of Refinitiv one year ago in a move that aims to create a market information giant to rival US titan Bloomberg.
“The European Commission commenced a Phase II merger review in June of the proposed acquisition of Refinitiv,” the LSEG said in today’s statement.
“As part of this process, the group has commenced exploratory discussions which may result in a sale of LSEG’s interest in MTS or potentially the Borsa Italiana group as a whole.
“The group expects to complete the transaction by the end of the year or in early 2021.”
Back in October 2019, the LSEG successfully fended off a multi-billion-dollar takeover bid from the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, arguing that was focused on the landmark Refinitiv deal.
Refinitiv will help LSEG shift from generating revenue solely from the trading of securities to providing investors information about trading, which will put it in direct competition with Bloomberg.
The transformational Refinitiv deal was unveiled in August 2019, two years after after LSEG’s failed £21-billion merger with Germany’s Deutsche Boerse.
That proposal — the third failed attempt at a tie-up between the British and German stock exchange operators — was blocked by the European Commission on competition fears. — AFP
