LSEG Announces £3 Billion Share Repurchase Amid Elliott's Call for Reform

London Stock Exchange Group Announces Major Share Buyback

The London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) has revealed plans to repurchase £3 billion ($4.1 billion) worth of its shares, following the recent disclosure that Elliott Investment Management has acquired a stake in the company. This announcement comes alongside the release of LSEG’s annual financial results.

Building on the £2.1 billion buyback completed in 2025, LSEG has already bought back £415 million in shares so far this year. The company aims to complete the additional £3 billion repurchase by February of next year. In addition, LSEG has raised its final dividend by 15.7%, bringing it to 103 pence per share, and has issued updated guidance for the next two years.

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LSEG’s shares surged by as much as 5% in early London trading, marking the largest single-day gain since Elliott’s involvement became public on February 11.

Despite the expanded buyback, the total falls short of the £5 billion program that Elliott was reportedly advocating for earlier this month.

“This is the appropriate scale for our buyback,” said CEO David Schwimmer in a Bloomberg Television interview. “It represents the largest share repurchase we have ever undertaken.”

Financial Outlook and Strategic Shifts

LSEG forecasts mid to high single-digit growth for 2026, with capital expenditures expected to decrease to 8% of total income by 2029. These projections are consistent with last year’s targets of 6.5% to 7.5% growth, with the company achieving a 5.8% increase in total income in 2025.

The company’s stock has been affected by a broader market downturn impacting firms perceived as vulnerable to artificial intelligence disruption. Elliott has urged LSEG to demonstrate how its data business could benefit from AI, emphasizing that its core data services may see increased demand from AI applications, while its markets division remains largely insulated from such risks.

“By modernizing our systems and leveraging AI and other advanced technologies, we continue to achieve significant operational efficiencies, with earnings growth outpacing revenue gains,” Schwimmer noted. “Our robust cash flow and strong balance sheet have enabled us to accelerate returns to shareholders.”

Once primarily an exchange operator, LSEG has transformed into a data-centric business following its $27 billion acquisition of Refinitiv in 2021. However, the exchange segment has faced challenges, including a decline in initial public offerings, causing it to lose ground among the world’s leading IPO venues.

Industry Perspectives and Additional Insights

Some analysts, including those at Bloomberg Intelligence, have observed that Elliott’s investment reflects ongoing concerns that LSEG is still viewed as a legacy terminal provider susceptible to AI disruption, rather than as a modern data refinery that prepares information for AI use.

LSEG’s annual subscription value—a key indicator of recurring revenue—rose by 5.9%.

Bloomberg LP, the parent company of Bloomberg News, is a competitor of LSEG in the financial data and news sector.

With contributions from Anna Edwards and Lizzy Burden.

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