A consortium of investors including Blackstone offloaded shares worth about GBP1.6 billion ($2.72 billion) in London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG), exiting a stake the group inherited when the bourse bought data services firm Refinitiv in 2021.
York Holdings, whose backers include Blackstone and affiliates of the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, GIC Special Investments and Thomson Reuters, sold roughly 17.3 million voting ordinary shares in LSEG at GBP91.50 each via a placing to institutional investors, according to a May 15 statement.
The selling consortium is made up of the former owners of Refinitiv, the firm that LSEG acquired for US$27 billion ($36.44 billion) three years ago. The placing represents a 3.3% economic and voting interest in the data provider.
LSEG will not receive any proceeds from the placing, according to the statement. Thomson Reuters will no longer hold any interest in the company, according to the statement.
About 9.4 million shares owned by the York entities are subject to call options sold indirectly by BCP York, an entity owned by a group affiliated with Blackstone, the statement said.
“Following successful completion of the placing, the consortium will no longer hold an interest in the company, other than the BCP York Option Shares, and the relationship agreement will terminate in accordance with its terms,” another filing said on May 14 before the transaction.
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Barclays, Bank of America, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley arranged the sale.
