LSE Won’t Concede to EU Antitrust Regulators in Refinitiv Deal

The London Stock Exchange (LSE), which has placed a bid to acquire Refinitiv for $27 billion, will not offer concessions to European Union antitrust regulators regarding the acquisition, according to two people familiar with the matter.

In a report by Reuters, the unnamed sources said that the EU’s antitrust regulator, the European Commission (EC), is expected to launch an investigation into the acquisition, and given the fact that the LSE won’t offer any concessions, the investigation could take four months, the news outlet said.

As Finance Magnates reported, LSE is committed to closing the transaction in the second half of this year, with the Exchange Exchange An exchange is known as a marketplace that supports the trading of derivatives, commodities, securities, and other financial instruments.Generally, an exchange is accessible through a digital platform or sometimes at a tangible address where investors organize to perform trading. Among the chief responsibilities of an exchange would be to uphold honest and fair-trading practices. These are instrumental in making sure that the distribution of supported security rates on that exchange are effectiv An exchange is known as a marketplace that supports the trading of derivatives, commodities, securities, and other financial instruments.Generally, an exchange is accessible through a digital platform or sometimes at a tangible address where investors organize to perform trading. Among the chief responsibilities of an exchange would be to uphold honest and fair-trading practices. These are instrumental in making sure that the distribution of supported security rates on that exchange are effectiv Read this Term group already having secured approval from the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS).

The acquisition could be the biggest M&A deal in the intermediary sector this year and will see the LSE become a UK-headquartered, global rival to Bloomberg. However, the investigation will look into the overlapping activities between the two companies.

Following the acquisition, shareholders of Refinitiv, a consortium of investment funds affiliated with Blackstone as well as Thomson Reuters, will hold an approximate 37 per cent stake in LSEG and under 30 per cent of the total voting rights of the Group.

Fixed income to be key area of focus in LSE bid

In particular, fixed income trading will likely to be a key focus of the probe, the sources said. Furthermore, the potential impact the deal might have on the price of financial data will also be a key area.

The preliminary inquiry from EU regulators will end on the 22nd of June 2020. The LSE has until then to propose any concessions to address competition concerns raised during the process.

According to analysts, some possible early concessions the exchange group could make would be to separate its MTS government bond platform of sell Refinitiv’s stake in Tradeweb, a bond Trading Platform Trading Platform In the FX space, a currency trading platform is a software provided by brokers to their respective client base, garnering access as traders in the broader market. Most commonly, this reflects an online interface or mobile app, complete with tools for order processing.Every broker needs one or more trading platforms to accommodate the needs of different clients. Being the backbone of the company’s offering, a trading platform provides clients with quotes, a selection of instruments to trade, real In the FX space, a currency trading platform is a software provided by brokers to their respective client base, garnering access as traders in the broader market. Most commonly, this reflects an online interface or mobile app, complete with tools for order processing.Every broker needs one or more trading platforms to accommodate the needs of different clients. Being the backbone of the company’s offering, a trading platform provides clients with quotes, a selection of instruments to trade, real Read this Term.

LSE and the EC have both declined to comment on the issue, and the news outlet was unable to get a response from a spokesperson from Refinitiv.