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US activist hedge fund Elliott Management has privately assured the UK authorities about its intentions for the future of the London Stock Exchange after constructing a major stake in its dad or mum group.
There have been talks between the activist investor and authorities officers to assuage fears that Elliott would possibly push for a break-up of the group or a spin-off of the LSE, in line with folks conversant in the discussions.
They added that the hedge fund additionally dispelled issues that it would push to shift the group to a New York itemizing, the place rival venues commerce at a better valuation a number of.
Elliott had taken a position in London Stock Exchange Group and is partaking with the corporate to enhance its efficiency, the FT reported earlier this month. LSEG shares have fallen by 31 per cent over the previous yr.
The hedge fund run by billionaire Paul Singer reached out proactively to the UK authorities, mentioned one individual conversant in the discussions. The activist investor additionally holds stakes in different London-listed firms, together with BP and Anglo American.
The Treasury is delicate to the well being and fortunes of the LSE and the information of Elliott’s funding instantly triggered discussions inside the division, a second individual near the state of affairs added.
The Treasury, LSEG and Elliott declined to remark.
News of talks between the federal government and Elliott comes as LSEG prepares to unveil its annual outcomes on Thursday, throughout which chief government David Schwimmer is anticipated to publicly deal with the group’s engagement with Elliott for the primary time.
Investors can be scrutinising whether or not LSEG will reveal additional share buybacks, a transfer that Elliott is pushing for, in line with folks conversant in discussions between the corporate and the activist.
Schwimmer is probably going additionally to deal with issues over the future of the enterprise within the face of AI. The alternate group’s shares have dropped over the previous yr as shareholders fear about how disruptive AI can be to the enterprise.
The Treasury has made reviving the UK’s capital markets a precedence and has labored with regulators and the LSE on slashing crimson tape to encourage extra firms to checklist and lift cash in London. Chancellor Rachel Reeves mentioned final month that she believed the City was getting into a “new golden age” amid hopes there may quickly be a revival in London listings after they hit their lowest level in 30 years.
Another individual conversant in the discussions mentioned it was “unsurprising” that the federal government had a dialogue with Elliott, given LSEG’s “national importance” to capital markets and the stream of cash within the UK.
Through its $27bn acquisition of information group Refinitiv in 2019, LSEG has grown right into a monetary information big, making most of its cash by promoting markets information to banks, brokers and traders. The firm made lower than 5 per cent of its revenues from equities within the third quarter of 2025.
Previous takeover attempts of LSEG by Deutsche Börse in 2016 and Hong Kong’s HKEX in 2019 provoked concern amongst British politicians as a result of of the inventory alternate’s function on the coronary heart of the UK monetary markets.
The UK’s nationwide safety regime was “sufficiently open to interpretation” that the federal government may evaluate an abroad investor’s stake within the LSE, one City lawyer mentioned.
The National Security and Investment Act contains elements of monetary and information infrastructure, which it defines as “physical or virtualised infrastructure used for storing, processing or transmitting data in digital form or infrastructure” — which may seize LSEG.
The City lawyer, who will not be advising both the activist or the corporate, mentioned: “Elliott’s proactive approach could be a way of assuring the government there is no threat or need to trigger review.”
