London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) and Microsoft have entered a new long-term strategic partnership to architect LSEG’s data infrastructure using the Microsoft Cloud and to jointly develop new products and services for data and analytics. The partnership will build on the good progress made by LSEG on the integration of Refinitiv and enhance its position as a leading-edge financial markets’ infrastructure and data provider.
With the Microsoft Cloud and its AI capabilities, the transaction significantly advances LSEG’s strategy of building an effective and scalable platform for its Data & Analytics business to deliver next-generation services for a variety of customers across the financial markets value chain through greater flexibility and enhanced workflow.
Under the provisions, LSEG’s data platform and other crucial technology infrastructure will drift into Microsoft’s Azure cloud environment. Workspace, LSEG’s next-generation data, and analytics workflow solution, will become congruent with specific Microsoft applications and the business strategies to establish innovative new cloud-based analytics services.
London Stock Exchange Group and Microsoft have also come to an agreement to explore the development of digital market infrastructure based on cloud technology, with an objective to transform how market participants work together with capital markets across a distinct range of asset classes. Migration of regulated applications will be subject to applicable regulated entity board and regulatory approval, preceding the relevant migration.
This strategic partnership is a significant milestone on LSEG’s journey towards becoming the leading global financial markets infrastructure and data business, and will transform the experience of its customers, David Schwimmer, CEO of London Stock Exchange Group said.
Bringing together its leading data sets, analytics, and global client base with Microsoft’s inclusive and trusted cloud services and global reach generates attractive revenue growth opportunities for both businesses.
“We are delighted to welcome Microsoft as a shareholder, Satya Nadella, Chairman and CEO, of Microsoft, said.
‘‘We believe our partnership with Microsoft will transform the way our customers discover, analyze, and trade securities around the world, and create substantial value over time.’’ Nadella, said. Advances in the cloud and AI will primarily transform how financial institutions research, interact, and transact across asset classes, and adapt to changing market conditions.
The partnership will bring together the industry guidance of the London Stock Exchange Group with the conviction and extensiveness of the Microsoft Cloud, covering Azure, AI, and Teams, to build next-generation services that will empower its customers to generate business insights, automate complex and time-consuming procedures, and in due course, do more with less.”
Key components of the strategic partnership
Since the completion of the Refinitiv acquisition in January 2021, London Stock Exchange Group has already made timely progress on its existing program for the delivery of its cloud-based data platform.
Under the provisions with Microsoft, LSEG will use Azure Purview and Azure Synapse to build its cloud-based data architecture that combines LSEG datasets into one, adaptable infrastructure that is simple, responsive, and effective, and developed with security, privacy, and compliance.
The program accelerates LSEG’s cloud migration policies. London Stock Exchange Group customers will be able to access data faster when and wherever they need it, enabling resilience and adaptability as capital markets continue to advance.
In addition, data scientists and engineers will be able to utilize LSEG’s data and analytics services on LSEG’s infrastructure, or leverage LSEG’s open financial data ecosystem by integrating their own data to build custom solutions.
LSEG Workspace to use Teams and Microsoft 365 to translate user experience for business specialists
Over the last two years London Stock Exchange Group has made significant progress on Workspace, its next-generation data and analytics workflow solution, with more than 50% of users currently migrated from legacy platforms and all products either live or in beta testing by the end of 2022.
As part of LSEG’s product development with Microsoft, the companies plan a step-change in the advancement of Workspace, by designing an all-in-one data, analytics, workflow, and partnership solution, explicitly designed to help finance and investment professionals advance communications and productivity while maintaining regulatory compliance.
It will be a connected, intuitive experience with a distinct, simple-to-use interface that facilitates users:
- For the first time, work in partnership with other LSEG customers inside and outside of their organizations, using Teams to connect, chat, call, and meet with built-in compliance, privacy, and security.
- Build financial models, manage data analysis, and create graphs using LSEG content delivered in Excel.
- Work seamlessly between LSEG Workspace, Teams, and Microsoft 365 tools to deliver financial reports and presentations.
Microsoft’s investment in LSEG shares
Microsoft has agreed to purchase London Stock Exchange Group shares that would result in Microsoft holding about a 4% equity stake in LSEG, such shares are to be purchased from York Holdings II Limited and York Holdings III Limited, units owned by certain investment funds associated with Blackstone, an affiliate of GIC Special Investments Limited, an affiliate of Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and Thomson Reuters.