Feb 18 (Reuters) – Activist investor Elliott Investment Management is urging London Stock Exchange to launch a review of its portfolio and pursue a 5 billion pound ($6.76 billion) share buyback over the next year, Bloomberg News reported on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the matter.
The report comes days after Reuters reported that Elliott took a stake in LSEG and started engaging with the company on ways to boost performance.
LSEG’s shares have dropped more than 30% in the past 12 months, pressured further by a sharp global selloff in software stocks.
Elliott, led by Paul Singer, is also urging LSEG to reassess its complex structure, which spans a data unit, exchange operations and a 51% stake in U.S.-listed Tradeweb Markets, the report said.
Reuters could not immediately verify the report. Elliott and LSEG did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Reuters, which provides news for LSEG’s news and data terminal, Workspace, and other products.
Elliott wants LSEG to improve its efforts to educate investors on how it could benefit from artificial intelligence, as its data business would see more demand from AI applications, the report added.
The fund is also calling for operational improvements to lift margins and narrow a gap with peers, Bloomberg said, adding that Elliott is not pushing for a sale of the company or a spin-off of its exchange business.
“LSEG maintains an active and open dialogue with our investors, while remaining focused on executing our strategy,” a spokesperson for LSEG told Bloomberg.
($1 = 0.7401 pounds)
(Reporting by Bipasha Dey in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel)
