London Stock Exchange Group PLC - London-based stock market operator and data provider - JP Morgan Securities PLC on Tuesday confirms that BCP York Holdings LP sold call options over around 10 million voting shares in LSEG, having announced plans to do so after the London market close on Monday. The call options were sold to Barclays Bank PLC, Merrill Lynch International, Citigroup Global Markets Ltd, Goldman Sachs International, JP Morgan Securities PLC and Morgan Stanley & Co International PLC. The call option shares represent around a 1.9% economic and voting interest in LSEG. BCP York is an entity owned by a consortium of certain investment funds affiliated with Blackstone Inc, and including an affiliate of Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, an affiliate of GIC Special Investments Pte Ltd, Thomson Reuters Corp and certain other minority holders. Thomson Reuters didn't participate in the call option transaction.

JP Morgan adds on Tuesday that the group of investment banks, to hedge the call options, sold 3.3 million LSEG shares at 9,318 pence per share, worth GBP306 million, to institutional investors. A call option gives the buyer the right, but not the obligation, to purchase the shares at an agreed price. No financial details were disclosed for the call options themselves.

Last Wednesday, the major shareholders of LSEG, including Blackstone and Thomson Reuters sold GBP1.9 billion in LSEG shares, with the UK company buying back GBP500 million of these. A total of 15.9 million voting shares were placed with institutional investors by Citigroup Global Markets and other investment banks at a price of 8,980p each, worth GBP1.4 billion in total.

Current stock price: 9,374.00p, up 0.6% in London on Monday

12-month change: up 29%

By Jeremy Cutler, Alliance News reporter; updated by Tom Waite, editor

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