Investors in the London Stock Exchange Group, including Blackstone and Thomson Reuters TRI-T, are launching a sale of roughly 28.3 million shares worth about £2.3-billion ($2.9-billion), bookrunners for the deal said on Wednesday.
This follows a sale in May of about $3.4-billion shares in the bourse operator as the investor group seeks to offload its stake in LSEG.
The consortium, which includes Canada’s CPPIB and Singapore’s GIC, aims to sell a total of about 43.1 million shares over time in LSEG through the offering, a directed buyback and a sale of call options, bookrunners said.
LSEG separately said it plans to buy back about £750-million worth of limited-voting ordinary shares through an off-the-market purchase.
Thomson Reuters, Blackstone, and GIC did not immediately respond to requests for comment. CPPIB declined to comment.
The consortium holds about an 18.7 per cent economic interest and an 11.3 per cent voting interest in LSEG. Following the completion of the latest deals, the group’s remaining voting shares and limited-voting ordinary shares will be under a 180-day lock-up period.
Thomson Reuters, parent of Reuters News, holds a minority stake in LSEG. Thomson Reuters and Blackstone had sold financial data firm Refinitiv to the bourse operator in 2021.
Woodbridge Co. Ltd., the Thomson family holding company and controlling shareholder of Thomson Reuters, also owns The Globe and Mail.