It is official. The London Stock Exchange (LSE) has agreed to sell Borsa Italiana to Euronext for 4.33 billion euros ($5.09 billion) in cash.
Announced on Friday, the two parties have already entered into a binding agreement as Euronext will receive 100 percent of the issued share capital of the Italian Exchange .
“Euronext will significantly diversify its revenue mix and its geographical footprint by welcoming the market infrastructure of Italy, a G7 country and the third-largest economy in Europe,” Euronext’s chairman and CEO, Stéphane Boujnah said.
Clearing Hurdles for Refinitiv Acquisition
The LSE decided to sell Borsa Italiana to pave its way for the acquisition of data provider Refinitiv. That deal is expected to close at $27 billion and is receiving regulatory flags for antitrust concerns.
“We continue to make good progress on the highly attractive Refinitiv transaction, and we are pleased to have reached this important milestone,” LSE CEO, David Schwimmer said.
“We believe the sale of the Borsa Italiana group will contribute significantly to addressing the EU’s competition concerns.”
The confirmation of the Borsa Italiana deal came around a month after the LSE announced entering into exclusive talks with Euronext. Other European giants, including Germany’s Deutsche Börse and Switzerland’s SIX Group, also made bids to purchase the Italian exchange.
Euronext itself is one of the major European financial market operators and runs six exchanges across the continent. Its new Italian subsidiary generated €464 million revenue and an EBITA of €264 million in 2019 and will be a major contributor to the Euronext portfolio.
“The combination of Euronext and the Borsa Italiana Group, with the strategic support of long-term investors such as CDP, delivers the ambition of building the leading pan-European market infrastructure, connecting local economies to global capital markets,” Boujnah added.
