London Stock Exchange shareholders give green light for $27bn Refinitiv deal
The London Stock Exchange has been given an overwhelming nod from its shareholders to push ahead with a $27bn (£21bn) takeover of data giant Refinitiv.
More than 99 per cent of voting investors backed the acquisition and supported the LSE’s plan to issue shares as a way of helping to finance the blockbuster move.
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The green light from the City comes a month after the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEX) threatened to derail the tie-up by making an offer of its own for the LSE.
However, HKEX’s vision of a merger of East and West failed to win round LSE shareholders.
The Refinitiv deal, which is set to be completed in the second half of 2020, is at the heart of LSE boss David Schwimmer’s belief that “data capabilities will define the success of financial market infrastructure business”.
Schwimmer has sold the deal to investors as a way of increasing presence in the US, the world’s biggest financial market, and expanding in Asia and emerging markets.
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The LSE is snapping up the data company from a consortium led by private equity titan Blackstone.
Shares in the London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) have soared almost 70 per cent in the last year.