Microsoft to buy 4% of LSE Group as part of $2.8-billion cloud deal

Microsoft agreed to buy a 4 per cent stake in London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) in a $2.8 billion cloud-computing deal that pushes big tech further into financial markets.

As part of the agreement, LSEG said it will spend at least that amount on cloud services with Microsoft over the next 10 years.

The partnership will speed up the migration of its markets to the cloud and allow it to develop new products and services, it said Monday.

The transaction adds to a recent trend of exchanges and tech firms linking up after similar partnerships between Nasdaq and Amazon, as well as Alphabet Google and CME Group. It points to increased demand from investors for information that gives them an edge in increasingly fast electronic markets.

Global spending on financial market data and news rose 7.4 per cent to a record $35.6 billion in 2021, according to an April report by Burton-Taylor International Consulting.