The European Union has officially given its approval to the London Stock Exchange Group for its $27 billion acquisition of the data company Refinitiv. The deal is intended to help LSE compete with other rivals such as S&P Global, CME Group, and Bloomberg.
Despite high hopes for the combined company, the process of getting approval has been very difficult for the two companies. The acquisition was first announced in August of 2019, but has faced repeated challenges in getting approval in Europe.
In order to clear the final hurdle, the stock exchange was forced to make a series of concessions. LSE has sold off its stake in Borsa Italiana and agreed to provide access to data and over the counter Interest rate derivative services for a period of at least 10 years.
In a statement on the approval , the European Commission said, “The commitments offered by LSEG fully address the competition concerns raised by the proposed transaction,” closing the book on the legal challenge.
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