LSEG Integrates Refinitiv Staff Amid $27 Billion Acquisition of Refinitiv

Planned to go through in H1 2020, the $27 billion deal was forced into a halt by the COVID-19 pandemic. The two leading trading industry giants are now officially married to one another.

London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) completed its USD27 billion acquisition of Refinitiv, the financial market data and infrastructure provider built out of the Financial and Risk division of Thomson Reuters in 2018. LSEG has issued Refinitv about a 37% economic interest and a 29% voting interest in the stock exchange operator. The important milestone will have new Refinitiv executives joining LSEG and brings together the two complementary businesses in their quest to provide data, trading tools, analytics, and risk management across the financial markets.

As founding CEO and Board Member of Refinitiv, David Craig will be leading the Data & Analytics division of LSEG as well as being Chief Executive of Refinitiv. Craig helped establish Refinitiv out of the Financial and Risk division of Thomson Reuters in 2018. He also sits on the World Economic Forum’s Banking Governors Board and the Advisory Council of TheCityUK, and chair the UK Treasury’s India UK Financial Partnership. In addition, Craig is a member of the UK Government’s Trade Advisory Group for Financial Services.

Among the leading names continuing their roles but now under the LSEG umbrella is Joshua Cater, Director of FX Transaction Sales. His job consists of leading Real Money new business sales in EMEA for FXall, the global market leader in institutional electronic FX trading.

David Schwimmer, CEO of LSEG, commented on LinkedIn: “Delighted to share that London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) and Refinitiv are now one! Completing a transaction of this size and complexity in the midst of a pandemic has been uniquely challenging, however, I know that the benefits for our customers, industry, and people make it worth it.”

London Stock Exchange Group first announced the acquisition of Refinitiv in August 2019 in an all-share transaction for an enterprise value of approximately $27 billion. The deal significantly accelerates LSEG’s existing strategy to be a leading global financial markets infrastructure provider and to markedly expand its data and analytics offering to create a global multi-asset class capital markets business. Originally, the firm planned to complete the transaction in H1 2020.