Elliott Keeps Up Pressure on LSEG Despite Record Buyback

By Adam Whittaker

Activist investor Elliott Investment Management said there is still more the London Stock Exchange Group can do to enhance shareholder value, keeping up the pressure on the company as it grapples with the threat posed by artificial-intelligence tools to its financial data and analytics business.

The hedge fund said Friday that while it noted LSEG's strong operational performance, record share buyback and margin-enhancing initiatives, this was a first step and that more opportunities exist to improve value.

Alongside its 2025 results, the financial-data provider and exchange operator on Thursday said it would buy 3 billion pounds ($4.04 billion) of stock and that it expects profitability gains in coming years. This compares with the 2.1 billion pounds it returned through stock repurchases last year.

Elliott said in a statement it will continue to work with LSEG to realize the full potential of its assets, close the valuation gap to industry peers and generate long-term value.

LSEG declined to comment on the latest statement from Elliott. A spokesperson for the group previously said "LSEG maintains an active and open dialogue with our investors, while remaining focused on executing our strategy."

Elliott had been pushing LSEG to consider a new multibillion-pound share buyback and lift margins toward those of rivals, The Wall Street Journal previously reported.

LSEG is a big financial-data provider and exchange operator that competes with peers such as S&P Global and Intercontinental Exchange, the owner of the New York Stock Exchange.

Its stock has slid 27% over the past year amid concerns that new artificial-intelligence tools could hit demand for its financial data and analytics tools.

Write to Adam Whittaker at adam.whittaker@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 27, 2026 06:54 ET (11:54 GMT)