London Stock Exchange Group reportedly in talks to buy stake in PrimaryBid

London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG), the owner of the London Stock Exchange, is reportedly in advanced talks with investment platform PrimaryBid to acquire an equity stake in the fintech, according to Sky News.

PrimaryBid and LSEG have an existing partnership, which the pair signed back in November 2019, to broaden the investment platform’s integration, which saw companies listed or listing on the LSE include retail investors in share offerings on the same terms as institutional investors. 

Exact details of the purchase are still unknown, however, LSEG is reportedly not the only potential buyer, other venture capital and private equity firms are also eyeing up a slice of PrimaryBid.

In a statement issued to Sky News, Anand Sambasivan, CEO of PrimaryBid, said: "The last three months have been transformative for PrimaryBid and we are excited by the tremendous new interest in our capital markets technology.” 

"Our partnership with the London Stock Exchange is built on respect and admiration for its incredible history, and for our shared desire to empower retail investors." 

LSEG was contacted by AltFi for comment but it declined to provide one. 

The fintech has gone from strength to strength recently as more and more people turn to trading and investment under lockdown. 

PrimaryBid has long been a vocal voice in the industry, back in April CEO Anand Sambasivan wrote an open letter to urge listed companies to let retail investors buy shares in coronavirus cash raises. 

Notable signatories of the letter include James Deal COO of PrimaryBid, Peter Hargeaves founder of private investment platform Hargeaves Lansdown and Adam Dodds CEO of Freetrade.

The investment platform was also the recipient of the AltFi Award for Crowdfunding Platform of the Year in 2019, beating runner-up Crowdcube.