LSE Group targets Blackstone/Thomson Reuters stake buyback as it raises outlook
A view of the London Stock Exchange Group sign in the City of London.

LONDON, March 2 (Reuters) - London Stock Exchange Group announced plans to buy back more of its shares on Thursday as it raised its income growth outlook and hailed the successful integration of Refinitiv, which it said had supercharged its ability to generate cash.

LSEG said it would seek shareholder consent to buy more of its own stock from a consortium of Blackstone and Thomson Reuters from which it acquired the data analytics group for $27 billion in January 2021.

"In addition to our existing share buyback, we are today announcing plans to seek shareholder approval for a buyback directed towards the Blackstone/Thomson Reuters consortium's stake, which will benefit all shareholders," LSEG Chief Executive David Schwimmer said in a statement.

The Refinitiv deal transformed the exchange, with data and analytics accounting for 4.944 billion pounds of its total income of 7.743 billion pounds in 2022, eclipsing the sums earned by its traditional activities, including share trading, which go back more than 300 years.

The directed buyback is expected to be up to 750 million pounds by April 2024, LSEG said.

Schwimmer said the consortium owned just over 30% of LSEG shares when the Refinitiv deal was completed. Thomson Reuters, the parent company of Reuters News, owned about $5.6 billion worth of LSEG shares as of Jan 31.

About of 10% of LSEG equity is available for sale by the consortium.

LSEG said 300 million pounds of a separate, broader 750 million pound share buyback was carried out in 2022, with the remainder to be completed by July 2023.

"We see the result as strong enough to keep sentiment for LSEG intact ahead of any potential share disposals over the coming months," RBC Europe said in a note to clients.

Shares in LSEG, which released preliminary 2022 results in-line with forecasts, traded 1.3% lower.