LONDON (Reuters) - Some trading and investment firms are calling for competition regulators to scrutinize London Stock Exchange’s (LSE.L) proposed $27 billion takeover of financial information provider Refinitiv to prevent further market data price hikes.
Asset managers have been pressing regulators in the European Union and the United States to help cut the cost of the financial market data which they buy from exchanges and rely on to make investment and trading decisions.
While few of the investors Reuters spoke to expect market data pricing to prove a dealbreaker, they said it should be scrutinized and regulators could push LSE to provide undertakings about pricing and accessibility of some products.
The European Commission, which declined to comment, is expected to undertake a full review if the LSE’s proposed transaction goes ahead, with data a likely focus, sources close to the proposed deal have told Reuters.
“There is cause for some concern for investors as access to LSE’s data could become more costly and less accessible outside of the confines of Refinitiv’s products,” Jordan Hauer, chief executive at Amass Insights, a U.S. based platform that matches data providers with investors, said.
LSE had no comment on anti-trust issues, while Refinitiv’s two largest shareholders, private equity group Blackstone (BX.N) and Thomson Reuters (TRI.TO), which owns Reuters News, declined to comment.
While LSE-Refinitiv would form a bigger non-exchange data player, it would still lag market leader Bloomberg LP, Douglas Taylor, managing director of consultants Burton-Taylor, said.
LSE data is mainly proprietary index-related or transactions like stock trades, while that sold by Refinitiv is based on sources like financial
