LSE close to sale of Borsa Italiana - report

London Stock Exchange is close to agreeing the sale of Borsa Italiana for about €4.5bn (£4.1bn) to Euronext and two Italian lenders, Bloomberg reported.

LSE could announce the deal as early as Friday, Bloomberg said. The company is selling Borsa Italiana to get approval for its $27bn purchase of financial data business Refinitiv, announced in August 2019.

Euronext, which owns the Paris and Amsterdam stock exchanges, is bidding with Cassa Depositi e Prestiti, a state-backed Italian lender, and Intesa Sanpaolo, Italy's biggest bank. The banks would take stakes in Euronext, Bloomberg said.

Italy sees Borsa Italiana as a strategic asset because it owns a platform used to trade government bonds and the government has been trying to arrange a deal. The purchase, including debt, would be financed by a rights issue for Euronext shareholders, cash, new debt and new equity from CDP and Intesa Sanpaolo, Bloomberg said.

LSE shares rose 0.6% to £89.22 at 12:15 BST, reversing earlier losses.