LONDON (Reuters) – London Stock Exchange said on Friday that it had completed its $27 billion deal to buy data provider Refinitiv as it bulks up into a major financial data provider to compete with Bloomberg.
“This transformational transaction brings together two highly complementary global businesses with a shared commitment to an Open Access philosophy, working in partnership with customers,” LSE chief executive David Schwimmer said in a statement.
The market for financial information has exploded with the advent of computer-driven trading, triggering a flurry of takeovers as companies seek to create one-stop shops to serve clients and get an edge over traditional rivals in supplying data, dubbed the “new oil”.
The European Commission, which oversees competition policy in the 27-nation EU, said earlier this month its antitrust investigation found a number of concerns about the Refinitiv deal but that they would be addressed by “remedies”, which include the sale of LSE’s Borsa Italiana, which runs the Milan stock exchange and MTS bond trading platform.
Pan-European bourse Euronext has already agreed to buy Borsa Italiana for 4.3 billion euros ($5.2 billion), subject to the Refinitiv takeover getting the green light.
Refinitiv was 45% owned by Thomson Reuters, owner of Reuters News.
(Reporting by Rachel Armstrong; editing by Sujata Rao and Huw Jones)
