London Stock Exchange Seeks EU Approval for Refinitiv Bid

The London Stock Exchange formally asked the European Union’s competition officials to approve its $27 billion takeover of data and analytics company, Refinitiv. The European Commission set a June 26 deadline for its decision. It can clear the deal with or without conditions or open a four-month long investigation following the end of its preliminary review if it has serious concerns. Analysts expect the Commission to kick off a full-scale investigation after June 26 because of the complexity and the massive amount of data involved in the deal. Refinitiv is 45%-owned by Thomson Reuters.