Looks like another suitor has joined the ball, vying for the hand of
Russell Investments.
In a
press statement, the exchange operator
confirmed that it is in talks with
Northwestern Mutual, which
has been looking to sell the asset manager since January.
In late April,
Reuters had reported that six bidders were circling Russell, including
CVC Capital Partners,
Silver Lake,
Warburg Pincus,
TPG Capital,
CIBC, and
MSCI.
In the statement, the LSE declared the following:
London Stock Exchange Group plc (the "Company" or "LSEG") notes the recent press speculation linking the Company, and other parties, to a potential acquisition of Russell and wishes to clarify its position.
LSEG confirms that it is evaluating the merits of a potential transaction involving Russell and is engaged in discussions with The Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company, the parent company of Russell.
Discussions remain on-going and there can be no certainty that any transaction will be forthcoming. If a transaction were to proceed, LSEG would intend to part-fund it through an equity raise.
A further announcement will be made in due course as appropriate.
The exchange operator
runs a number of markets, including, of course, the London Stock Exchange; Borsa Italiana; MTS, Europe's major fixed income market; and the pan-European equities platform, Turquoise.
It also operates CC&G, the Rome headquartered central counterpart clearinghouse and Monte Titoli, the significant European settlement business, selected as a first wave T2S participant. The Group is also a majority owner of the multi-asset global central counterpart clearinghouse, LCH.Clearnet.
The Group offers its customers an extensive range of real-time and reference data products, including Sedol, Unavista, Proquote and RNS, as well as access to over 200,000 international equity, bond and alternative asset class indices, through LSEG’s world leading index provider, FTSE. 
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