LSE Investors Bless $27 Billion Refinitiv Deal in Key First Test

(Bloomberg) --

London Stock Exchange Group Plc won shareholder approval for its acquisition of data firm Refinitiv, keeping the bourse on track to close the $27 billion deal next year.

Shareholders voted overwhelmingly to proceed with the transformational deal at a general meeting in London on Tuesday, with more than 99% in favor. The green light allows the exchange to move on from its Hong Kong rival’s recent unsolicited takeover bid and seek regulatory approval for the purchase.

LSE is betting on a future dominated by data as the three-century-old exchange seeks to create global scale in fast-growing markets such as Asia. The combined LSE-Refinitiv will be a trading powerhouse across fixed income, currencies, equities and derivatives. It will generate about 70% of revenues from data, up from LSE’s current 40%, according to Bloomberg Intelligence.

Refinitiv serves over 40,000 institutions in 190 countries, informing clients including buy- and sell-side firms, governments and corporations on asset prices and trades. Its trading venues include a stake in the recently listed Tradeweb and the FXall and Matching platforms, with average daily trading volume of over $400 billion in currencies and $500 billion in fixed income.

Bloomberg LP, the parent of Bloomberg News, competes with Refinitiv to provide financial news, data and information.

LSE investor backing for Refinitiv highlights the difficulties Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing Ltd. faced when it asked the London bourse to ditch that deal, and tried to persuade shareholders of the merits of an East-West exchange merger.

The news comes as Deutsche Boerse AG mulls joining rivals Euronext NV and Switzerland’s SIX Group AG in a battle for their Spanish counterpart, in an effort to create scale and cut costs. The year is shaping up to be the biggest on record for exchange mergers, Bloomberg data show.

Bankers and other advisers will reap 281 million pounds ($361 million) for working on the mega-deal, a boost for the City of London, LSE said earlier this month.

LSE is being advised by Barclays Plc, Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Robey Warshaw and RBC Capital Markets. Evercore, Canson Capital Partners and Jefferies are acting for Refinitiv.

To contact the reporter on this story: Viren Vaghela in London at vvaghela1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Ambereen Choudhury at achoudhury@bloomberg.net, Chris Bourke, Patrick Henry

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