💪 A New Power Couple in Town?
New Stocks added on Winvesta - AFRM, MJ, RIOT
Hey Global Investor, here's what you need to know before the US markets open.
Market Snapshot 📈
S&P 500Â (Yesterday's Close) 3,809.84Â +8.65Â (0.23%)
NASDAQÂ (Yesterday's Close) 13,128.95Â +56.52Â (0.43%)
FTSE 100Â (5 PM IST) 6786.83Â +41.31 (+0.61%)
NIFTY 50Â (Today's Close) 14,595.60Â +30.75Â (0.21%)
USDINRÂ (5 PM IST) 73.06Â (1 Year +3.20%)
A New Power Couple in Town?
The EU clears LSE’s (London Stock Exchange) $27B purchase of Refinitiv, catapulting one of London’s premier financial companies onto the global stage.
Background: Refinitiv is a global provider of financial market data and infrastructure. Founded in 2018, the company is jointly owned by Blackstone Group LP (55%) and Thomson Reuters (45%). London Stock Exchange (LSE) needs no introduction. It owns, among others, the Milan Stock Exchange, Russell Indexes, and FTSE International.
The LSE agreed to purchase Refinitiv in August 2019 to compete with larger rivals such as Bloomberg, Intercontinental Exchange, and S&P Global, offering everything from data services to clearing. The EU, as part of its approval process and due diligence on the deal, collected extensive information from sources such as clearing houses and data vendors on whether the deal would be detrimental to competition in sovereign debt trading and financial data supply.
This deal follows S&P Global’s purchase of IHS Markit Ltd. for around $39B. The US antitrust watchdogs approved the LSE-Refinitiv deal last year. Singapore is still studying the details. The nod from Brussels is seen as the last major hurdle for the merger.
What is Happening? LSE will acquire Refinitiv from Blackstone, whose stake will be reduced to 37% once the deal is complete.Â
The combined company will be a trading powerhouse across fixed income, currencies, equities, and derivatives. It will generate about 70% of revenues from data, up from LSE’s current 40%. In exchange for acquiring Refiniv, LSE will let go of the Milan Stock Exchange, and its European bond trading platform MTS.
The LSE has also pledged to offer access to its foreign exchange trading and equities data and indices for the next decade and maintain the separation of trading and clearing of interest rate derivatives.
The deal remains subject to approval by a small number of other authorities and is expected to be completed by the end of the quarter.
Market Reaction:Â On Wednesday, shares of Thomson Reuters Corporation (TRI), part-owner of Refinitiv, rose 0.30% to close at $79.45
Company Snapshot 📈
TRI $79.45 +0.24 (+0.30%)
Analyst Rating (13 Analysts) BUY 38%, HOLD 54%, SELL 8%
New Stocks on Winvesta
Affirm Holdings (AFRM $97.24 +98.45%): Affirm operates a platform for digital and mobile-first commerce in the United States and Canada. AFRM started trading in secondary markets yesterday and closed 98.45% above the IPO price.
ETFMG Alternative Harvest ETFÂ (MJ $18.38Â +3.72%): MJÂ ETF holds stocks in the cannabis industry as well as the industries likely to be influenced by the medicinal and recreational cannabis legalization initiatives taking place in many locations globally. The expense ratio of the ETF is 0.75%.
Riot Blockchain Inc (RIOT $23.88 -1.36%): Riot Blockchain focuses on bitcoin mining and aims to be one of the largest and lowest-cost producers of bitcoin in North America. The stock is up over 1600% in the last year, compared to bitcoins 380% rise.
Newsworthy 📰
Oh Snap!: Snapchat will terminate Trump’s account on Jan. 20 (SNAP -5.35%)
Electric Team:Â Alibaba Launches Electric Sedan In Partnership With China's Largest Automaker (BABAÂ +4.30%)
Blitz: TSMC Plans Spending Blitz of Up to $28 Billion as Intel Founders (TSMÂ -2.80%)
Later Today 🕒
7.00Â PM IST:Â Initial jobless claims
Before Market Open: Delta Airlines Earnings (DAL)
Before Market Open: BlackRock Inc (BLK)
Fun Fact of The Day 🌞
A Minnesota Casino set the world record for the largest hamburger ever made. It weighed just over a ton and was 10-feet in diameter.
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