US buyout fund Blackstone Group is expected to announce the merger of its majority-owned financial data firm Refinitiv with the London Stock Exchange Group (LSE) within a week, but the deal is expected to face a long antitrust review before it can close, Reuters reported.
Negotiations on the US$27 billion deal are at an advanced stage, with Blackstone, the LSE and Thomson Reuters in broad agreement on the main aspects of the deal, the sources said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
A formal announcement could come on August 1 when the LSE publishes half-year results, two of the sources said. A merger would significantly expand the LSE’s information services business, which the bourse operator has been building as a more stable source of cash flow than its trading and clearing businesses, putting pressure on competitors including Intercontinental Exchange and Deutsche Boerse.
Full Content: Reuters
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