Thomson Reuters has announced that it and certain investment funds affiliated with Blackstone have agreed to sell shares in London Stock Exchange Group plc (“LSEG”) that they co-own to Microsoft. Thomson Reuters plans to use the approximately $1B of gross proceeds from the transaction to pursue organic and inorganic opportunities in key growth segments and provide returns to shareholders. Closing of the transaction is subject to customary antitrust and regulatory approvals and is expected to complete in the first quarter of 2023.
In connection with the transaction, LSEG has agreed to amend the terms of contractual lock-up provisions previously agreed between LSEG and the Blackstone/Thomson Reuters entities that hold the LSEG shares. As a result of the amendment, the number of LSEG shares that the Blackstone/Thomson Reuters entities will be able to sell, in aggregate, between January 30, 2023 and January 29, 2024 will be unchanged and the number of LSEG shares that the Blackstone/Thomson Reuters entities will be able to sell between January 30, 2024 and January 29, 2025 will be reduced by half of the number of shares sold to Microsoft. The contractual lock-up provisions cease to apply after January 29, 2025.