14:13 ET -- Microsoft Corp. is one of the most talked about companies in the U.S. across all news items in the last 12 hours, according to Factiva data. The company will buy a 4% stake in the London Stock Exchange's corporate parent and help shift the exchange's financial data and trading platforms to the cloud. The deal calls for London Stock Exchange Group PLC to spend $2.8 billion over the next decade on Microsoft products, mainly its Azure cloud service. Microsoft will buy the shares from a consortium of Blackstone Inc. and Thomson Reuters Corp. entities. Dow Jones & Co. owns Factiva. (josh.beckerman@wsj.com)

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

12-12-22 1431ET