(Sharecast News) - London Stock Exchange is close to agreeing the sale of Borsa Italiana for about €4.5bn (£4.1bn) to Euronext and two Italian lenders, Bloomberg reported.
LSE could announce the deal as early as Friday, Bloomberg said. The company is selling Borsa Italiana to get approval for its $27bn purchase of financial data business Refinitiv, announced in August 2019.
Euronext, which owns the Paris and Amsterdam stock exchanges, is bidding with Cassa Depositi e Prestiti, a state-backed Italian lender, and Intesa Sanpaolo, Italy's biggest bank. The banks would take stakes in Euronext, Bloomberg said.
Italy sees Borsa Italiana as a strategic asset because it owns a platform used to trade government bonds and the government has been trying to arrange a deal. The purchase, including debt, would be financed by a rights issue for Euronext shareholders, cash, new debt and new equity from CDP and Intesa Sanpaolo, Bloomberg said.
LSE shares rose 0.6% to £89.22 at 12:15 BST, reversing earlier losses.
29 Jan 2021 08:39
UPDATE 3-LSE looks at 'blank cheque' deals to keep London ahead after Brexit
* No repeat of frenzied U.S. trading in UK so far* LSE has no plans to shift euro clearing out of London* Focus on integrating Refinitiv, cutting debt...