Meet the bankers pulling together LSEs industry-changing $27 billion deal for Refinitiv

The London Stock Exchange has agreed a $27 billion deal to buy data provider Refinitiv, just a year after the company was spun out of Thomson Reuters by Blackstone.

The deal is being led by some of the biggest names in M&A in London, with the likes of Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and Evercore all landing roles on the deal.

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The London Stock Exchange has agreed a $27 billion deal to buy data provider Refinitiv, just a year after the company was spun out of Thomson Reuters by Blackstone.

London Stock Exchange CEO David Schwimmer is a former Goldman Sachs banker with close ties to Blackstone. He moved in on the deal after negotiations slowed in rival exchange Deutsche Boerse's plans to buy Refinitiv's foreign-exchange trading business for $3 billion, according to Reuters.

Blackstone could be set to double its money just 10 months after the private equity firm secured its initial deal last year. Refinitiv shareholders will ultimately hold around a 37% stake in LSE.

The deal was led by some of the biggest names in M&A in the London banking market. Here's what you need to know:

London Stock Exchange

The London Stock Exchange was advised by Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Robey Warshaw, Barclays, and RBC Capital Markets, with consultancy Oliver Wyman and communications firm Teneo working on the deal.

Goldman Sachs

Goldman Sachs was a lead adviser on the deal, with a team made up of Francois Xavier de Mallmann, Mark Sorrell, James Lucas, and Charlie Lytle.

De Mallmann is chairman of the investment banking division, and has long worked for the LSE, advising the exchange group on the sale of Russell Investments in 2015. He recently worked on the failed FCA-Nissan talks earlier this year, Reuters reported.

Sorrell is a mainstay of the UK M&A market as head of the bank's European M&A team. He is the son of Martin Sorrell, the founder of advertising agency WPP.

Lytle is cohead of the bank's corporate broking team and joined Goldman from Citi in 2016. His previous deals include Worldpay's tie up with Vantiv in 2018 and Standard Life's combination with Aberdeen Asset Management in 2017.

Lucas was promoted to MD in 2017.

Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley also served as a lead adviser on the deal with its team including Matthew Jarman, Mark Rawlinson, Vipin Chhajer, and Ben Grindley.

Jarman knows the LSE well, having been part of the NYSE's parent company ICE's bid to takeover the exchange in 2016.

Rawlinson is a key figure at Morgan Stanley. Having previously been one of the UK's most respected M&A lawyers, he now heads up the bank's UK investment banking division as chairman. He advised Unilever on its defence when Kraft Heinz made an offer to buy the firm.

Chhajer joined Morgan Stanley as an executive director from Deutsche Bank in 2018 where he was head of European fintech investment banking. And Grindley was part of the Morgan Stanley team which advised on the Comcast-Fox-Sky deal last year.

Robey Warshaw

Robey Warshaw is an advisory firm based in London set up by veteran dealmakers Simon Robey and Simon Warshw, known in London advisory circles as “the two Simons.” The Robey Warshaw team was comprised of Robey and Phillip Apostolides, both former Morgan Stanley bankers.

Robey used to be global head of M&A at Morgan Stanley while Apostolides was a senior investment banker. Last year the company punched well above its weight to be the 18th largest dealmaker globally, according to Firmex.

Barclays

British bank Barclays worked as an adviser, broker and sponsor on the LSE side of the deal, having been the main corporate broker to the exchange for some time. Its team was composed of Kunal Gandhi, Francesco Ceccato, Neal West, and Ben Plant.

Gandhi was a key advisor to the LSE on its failed merger with Deutsche Boerse in 2017 and is head of corporate broking at the bank. He also advised on the LSE's acquisition of a group of bond indices and an analytics platform from Citigroup for $685 million last year, according to Financial News.

Ceccato is co-head of Barclays' financial institutions group in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

West is an managing director at Barclays in its corporate broking division while Plant is head of corporate finance transaction governance at the bank.

RBC Capital Markets

RBC Capital Markets worked as corporate broker on the LSE team with bankers Oliver Asplin Hearsey and Marcus Jackson leading their side. Asplin Hearsey is a veteran financial institutions banker while Jackson is in corporate broking.

Oliver Wyman

John Romeo and Hiten Patel served as consultants for LSE from Oliver Wyman.

Teneo

Lucas van Praag, Philip Gawith, and Doug Campbell served as communications advisors to LSE.

Refinitiv

Evercore

Evercore served as a financial advisor to Refinitiv. The team there included Jane Gladstone, Julian Oakley, and David Cox.

Gladstone is a senior managing director at Evercore based in New York and runs the firm's financial services corporate advisory team. She advised ICAP on the merger of its £1.1 billion ($1.3 billion) global voice broking and information business with Tullett Prebon.

Oakley is a former JPMorgan banker whose own firm, Braveheart, was bought by Evercore in 2006. He advises on a variety of M&A as well as equity and capital markets deals from London.

Cox is a New York-based managing director who formerly worked in M&A at Morgan Stanley.

Canson Capital Partners

Canson Capital Partners is a boutique led by former HSBC bankers that came to prominence when the then-three-month-old firm advised Blackstone on its deal with Thomson Reuters. Matteo Canonaco and James Simpson worked as financial advisors to Refinitiv on behalf of Canson.

Canonaco was formerly the head of financial sponsors at HSBC while Simpson was the former co-head of advisory for EMEA at the bank.

Jefferies

Jefferies' financial institutions investment banking group managing director Alexander Yavorsky served as a financial advisor for Refinitiv.

Eterna Partners

Eterna Partners' partner and cofounder Serra Balls and former G4S communications director Nigel Fairbrass served as communications advisor to Refinitiv.