LSEG gets regulatory approval for $27 billion Refinitiv deal

Photo: Leaprate

The European Commission has approved the London Stock Exchange’s $27 billion (£20 billion) acquisition of Refinitiv. The Commission’s investigation discovered a number of concerns about the deal, however, those could be addressed by a range of remedies.

One of the concerns is the €4.3 billion sales of Borsa Italiana to pan-European exchange Euronext and continued access to its clearing services and other data.

EU competition chief Margrethe Vestager commented:

"Infrastructure competition in trading services and access to financial data products on fair and equal terms is essential for the European economy and in particular for consumers and businesses."

Vestager continued:

"Today, we can approve the proposed acquisition of Refinitiv by LSEG because LSEG offered commitments that will ensure that the markets will remain open and competitive and the acquisition will not lead to higher prices or less choice and innovation for these products."

The approval of the acquisition brings a lengthy regulatory review of the deal, which will see Refinitiv owner Blackstone take a stake in LSE and will clear the way for a major new rival to Bloomberg.

The authorities have been concerned that the acquisition would give the London bourse too much market data control, enabling preferential treatment to customers or blocking out rivals completely.

As part of the regulatory agreement, LSE will continue to offer its global OTC interest rate derivatives clearing services on an open-access basis. The Exchange will also provide access to the LSE venue data, FTSE UK Equity Indices and WM/R FX Benchmarks to all existing and future downstream competitors.

Reprinted from Leaprate, the copyright all reserved by the original author.