London Stock Exchange’s takeover of Refinitiv under threat

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London Stock Exchange’s £24bn takeover of Refinitiv under threat after European regulators refer deal for in-depth competition probe

By Daily Mail City & Finance Reporter

Published: | Updated:

The London Stock Exchange’s £24billion takeover of Refinitiv is under threat after European regulators referred the deal for an in-depth competition probe. 

The European Commission announced late yesterday that it was concerned the blockbuster takeover could hinder competition in the provision of critical data used across global markets. 

A failure to get the green light from regulators would be a major blow to the LSE. 

Anxious wait: A failure to get the green light from regulators would be a major blow to the LSE

The acquisition of Refinitiv, which is best-known among City traders for its data screen terminals, is set to turn the LSE into one of the world’s largest financial market players. 

It would mean that alongside its various trading venues, the LSE would also be responsible for supplying vast amounts of critical data to traders, market infrastructure providers and investors such as pension funds and insurers. 

The European Commission’s executive vice-president Margrethe Vestager said: ‘Access to financial market infrastructure and financial data products is needed to make investment decisions, trade, and to protect savings.

‘We have opened an in-depth investigation to assess whether the proposed transaction, which will combine the activities of London Stock Exchange Group and Refinitiv, would negatively affect competition in these markets. 

‘It is key for a well functioning financial market to ensure that market participants continue to have access to financial market infrastructure and financial data products on competitive terms,’ said Vestager. 

Analysts were expecting the deal to be referred for a full investigation, due to its size and complexity. 

The European Commission will now have until October 27 to make a final decision on whether or not the deal can go ahead. 

However, this deadline may be extended to allow the LSE time to sell off any bits of the company which raise particular competition concerns. 

The company said yesterday it was still hoping to have won approval from regulators and completed the transaction by the second half of 2020. 

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