Refinitiv is jointly owned by private equity firm Blackstone Group, with 55% stake and Thomson Reuters holding the remaining 45% ownership
Paternoster Square near London Stock Exchange. (Credit: Kaihsu Tai/Wikipedia.)
London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) has completed the previously announced acquisition of financial market data and infrastructure provider Refinitiv in an all-share transaction worth $27bn.
Refinitiv is jointly owned by private equity firm Blackstone Group, with 55% stake and Thomson Reuters holding the remaining 45% ownership.
The company was established on 1 October 2018, when Thomson Reuters sold its 55% majority stake in its Financial & Risk (F&R) business unit to Blackstone, retaining 45% stake.
In January, LSEG has secured the European Commission (EC) conditional approval, under the EU Merger Regulation, for its proposed all-share acquisition of Refinitiv.
Blackstone senior managing director Martin Brand said: “LSEG’s combination with Refinitiv creates a global leader in financial data and infrastructure. We are excited to be a long-term partner to LSEG as the company continues to grow and innovate.”
Under the terms of the transaction, LSEG has issued its shares to the Refinitiv Sellers, in satisfaction of the total consideration.
The transaction enabled Refinitiv shareholders to receive around 37% economic interest and 29% voting interest in LSEG.
In relation with the transaction, Martin Brand, Erin Brown and Douglas Steenland have been appointed to the LSEG board, as described in the prospectus.
LSEG said that all of the enlarged voting ordinary share capital of LSEG, including the 112,254,597 voting ordinary shares issued to the Refinitiv Sellers, were admitted to the premium segment of the Official List and to trading on LSE Main Market.
Also, the 67,355,526 limited-voting ordinary shares issued to the Refinitiv Sellers are not expected to be admitted to listing or trading on any market.
Furthermore, LSEG noted that additional 24,615,845 voting ordinary shares will be issued to certain of the Refinitiv Sellers after one month from the closing of the transaction.
LSEG chief executive officer David Schwimmer said: “Completion of the acquisition of Refinitiv marks an important milestone in LSEG’s history. I am delighted to welcome our new board directors, shareholders, executive management and all the new Refinitiv colleagues joining LSEG.
“This transformational transaction brings together two highly complementary global businesses with a shared commitment to an Open Access philosophy, working in partnership with customers.
“LSEG is focused on delivering the benefits of the transaction helping customers to access data, trading tools, analytics and risk management across the financial markets and at scale around the globe.
“LSEG is well-positioned for long-term sustainable growth in a rapidly evolving landscape as a leading global financial markets infrastructure and data provider.”