The London Stock Exchange Group (LSE) has recently reached an agreement for its rival, Euronext, to purchase the Milan arm of the LSE for a staggering €4.3 billion (Around $5.07 billion). With this, LSE has its path clear for the purchase of Refinitiv, a financial data provider.

A Mutually Beneficial Exchange

Euronext stands as a proud owner of an array of Europe-based stock exchanges, including the likes of Paris Bourse, and had started with exclusive talks with the LSE back in September for the acquisition of Borsa Italiana.

Euronext, based in Amsterdam, had to fight off an array of competition for the Italian firm, such as SIX from Switzerland, as well as Deutsche Börse from Germany.

With the selling of Borsa Italiana, LSE stands convinced that the European Commission will give its much-needed regulatory approval. This approval is for the acquisition of Refinitiv, which is labeled to be worth $27 billion in total. Refinitiv’s Eikon terminals can be found on trading floors across the globe, and stand in direct competition with the terminals that Bloomberg provides, in turn.

The Mandatory Kind Words

David Schwimmer stands as the CEO of the London Stock Exchange Group, and gave comment about the matter at large. He stated that the Group stands convinced that the sale of Borsa Italiana will help ease the European Commission’s concerns regarding competition within the EU, as the Refinitiv purchase would allow for further superiority by the LSE.

In regard to the Refinitiv deal, Schwimmer was proud to admit that great progress was made regarding this “attractive” transaction, and proudly stated that an important milestone was reached in regard to the negotiations.

Plans Of Global Competition

It was back in August of 2019 when the LSE had announced its intent to purchase Refinitive. This would allow the London Stock Exchange operator to become a competitor against Micheal Bloomberg. Should the deal be passed, Refinitiv will situate its headquarters in the UK, and will be a global rival to the financial news and data business of Bloomberg.

At the time, the Group made it clear that the Refinitiv acquisition would allow for an increased presence within the US, as well, which stands as one of the biggest financial markets the world has to offer. Alongside this, the acquisition would help in the expansion of Asia, as well as emerging markets.

Refinitive itself is owned by a consortium of entities, including Thomson Reuters, the owner of the Reuters news platform, as well as Blackstone.