London Stock Exchange Group begins share buyback worth up to £650 million
Key Facts
London Stock Exchange Group said on November 2 that it was launching a programme to buy back ordinary shares for a total value of up to £650 million, with purchases starting immediately and ending no later than February 24, 2027, according to the company announcement cited by FX News Group. The new tranche comes as the group proceeds with its current programme to return capital to shareholders, but its open announcement does not describe it as the programme’s final tranche. In its third-quarter update, the company said the £3 billion programme would be completed by February 2027 and that the final tranche was expected in the following weeks. This means the February end date for purchases is consistent with the timetable set by the company, without by itself establishing that the new tranche represents the full remaining amount. The announcement also specified that the ordinary shares covered by the programme have a nominal value of 6 and 79/86 pence per share.
The new tranche reflects the continuation of the buyback pace the group announced during the year. LSEG said it bought £500 million of shares in the third quarter, taking total purchases since the start of 2026 to £2.6 billion through the end of that quarter. In its first-half results, the company said it had returned £2.1 billion to shareholders through buybacks, and at the time indicated that it planned to return an additional £1.35 billion by February 2027. The figures reflect successive plans and purchases announced at different times, while the third-quarter update specifies purchases completed through the end of September. In the same update, the company had forecast buying an additional £800 million during the fourth quarter of 2026 and the first quarter of 2027, with the programme to be completed by February. It said the final tranche was expected to begin in the weeks following the update.
The buybacks come as first-half results showed growth in income, profitability and cash flow. Total income excluding recoveries rose 8.4%, while adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation increased 14.1% in the first half of 2026, according to the company’s results. Free cash flow to equity reached £1.2 billion, and free cash flow per share rose 37.0% on a reported basis. The group said gross subscription sales renewals over the 12 months through June amounted to £482 million, while its revenue retention rate was 92.8%. These indicators place the buyback within a financial picture combining income growth, cash generation and subscriptions, resources that coincide with the company’s capital-return plans and expansion commitments.
Expansion plans include the acquisition agreement for Octus, for which LSEG said the cash consideration was $3.535 billion. The group said completion of the deal was expected in the first half of 2027, subject to regulatory approvals. Alongside this spending, it said in its third-quarter update that it had capacity to carry out additional buybacks of between £1.0 billion and £1.5 billion in 2027. The company linked its capital plans to its leverage outlook, saying it expected to finish 2027 near the upper end of its 1.5x-2.5x target range, before returning to the midpoint by the end of 2028. These dates highlight the overlap between share purchases and the cash-funded acquisition, while the group expects leverage to rise within the stated range and then decline. Purchases under the current programme are scheduled to continue until no later than February 24, 2027, while completion of the Octus deal is expected in the first half of the same year.
In the market, the group’s shares, traded under the ticker LSEGY, closed at $31.74 on October 30, 2026, according to EL7 data. This figure shows the closing price for that day; the approved facts here do not include the session’s high or low prices. The announcement of the new tranche did not specify how many shares the group would buy for the £650 million spending cap. The open announcement also did not establish that the shares bought would be cancelled immediately upon settlement, contrary to what appeared in the previous draft. The dates announced by the company remain that purchases begin immediately and end no later than February 24, 2027, with completion of the Octus deal expected in the first half of 2027, subject to approvals.