Dear readers,
Happy Saturday!
In a blockbuster $27 billion deal that's certain to threaten Bloomberg's financial-data empire, the London Stock Exchange struck a deal this week to buy the data company Refinitiv.
The tie-up highlights trading venues' desire to move beyond low-margin trading and clearing into the more lucrative business of selling data.
LSE CEO David Schwimmer, who joined the stock-exchange group less than a year ago from Goldman Sachs, is driving the industry-changing transaction. Our banking reporter Dakin Campbell talked to Schwimmer's former colleagues and clients, who told him why Schwimmer is ideally placed to do the deal.
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The deal also involves some of the biggest names in M&A, including Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and Evercore. Here's what you need to know about the bankers working on the deal.
And lastly, industry watchers are already speculating about which data company might be bought next, as exchanges look to quench clients' seemingly endless thirst for financial data while also generating new streams of revenue for themselves. Experts say that of the five large data providers, FactSet appears most likely to be snapped up next, according to our fintech reporter Dan DeFrancesco.
Separately, the BI newsroom did a deep dive this week on the impact of artificial intelligence on many verticals, including transportation, healthcare, retail, and investing. You can check out the whole series, How AI is Changing Everything, here.
Within finance, the research firm Autonomous estimates that the industry broadly will be able to shave costs by as much as 22%, or $1 trillion, by 2030 through the use of AI.
In terms of specific applications of the tech, chatbots and fraud-prevention apps are becoming more common, but it's early days. Banks are still doing the essential data work needed so AI can do the more ambitious work around investment recommendations.
As Gordon Smith, the co-president and chief operating officer of JPMorgan, said at a recent financial conference, "Machine learning, artificial intelligence, I would say we at least are right at the beginning of that journey."
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Have a great weekend!
Olivia
Visual China Group/Getty
David Schwimmer, CEO of the London Stock Exchange.