LSEG CEO Schwimmer on AI Opportunity, Buybacks, and IPO Pipeline (with Katie Greifeld; Romain Bostick)

Asks how LSEG is approaching AI and future-proofing the business, noting LSEG shares had a rough 2025.

Katie Greifeld

David Schwimmer

AI is a great opportunity for LSEG. The vast majority (90%+) of their data is proprietary, and AI capabilities are making it more valuable. Customers are accessing data through AI channels and consuming more data than humans would. They have partnerships with OpenAI, Anthropic, Microsoft, Google. This is a new distribution channel that is a big positive.

Investors are starting to understand this better over the last several months.

Asks about dealings with activist investor Elliott, who pushed for AI benefits and a larger buyback. Notes the £3B buyback versus Elliott's desired £5B, asking if there are plans to increase it.

Katie Greifeld

David Schwimmer

They engage with all shareholders. The £3B buyback landed well with markets. It allows a significantly larger buyback than ever before while maintaining strategic flexibility for M&A. The business generates healthy cash flow, so they can fund the full buyback and end the year in the middle of their 1.5-2.5x net debt to EBITDA range.

Asks about M&A opportunities and the health of the listing market in London versus the US, including the IPO pipeline.

Romain Bostick

David Schwimmer

They are always evaluating opportunities and have done about seven bolt-on transactions adding new capabilities. The IPO pipeline is healthier than in his eight years in the role, stronger than before the financial crisis, with companies from the UK, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. This will materialize in the back half of this year and into next year.

Political stability is preferred, but issuers are looking for capital and growth and can't wait for everything to become calm.

Asks about the trend of companies switching listings from London to New York, and whether the healthy pipeline implies that trend is tapering off.

Katie Greifeld

David Schwimmer

Companies have a better understanding of the track record. Of about 20 companies that raised over $100M in the US, only 3 or 4 are still listed and trading up. The other 17 have been delisted or are trading down an average of 60-70%. It's a terrible track record. Companies recognize that if they're not a very large company with a great story, there's a significant risk of being an orphan stock in the US.

Many companies realize they'll be much better off on the London Stock Exchange.

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