London Stock Exchange faces investor backlash over chief's 25% pay rise

The London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) is facing an embarrassing shareholder backlash after deciding to hike its chief executive's salary by more than £200,000 following its $27bn takeover of the data provider Refinitiv.

Sky News has learnt that some of the company's biggest investors plan to vote against its remuneration report when it holds its annual meeting later this month.

Their anger centres on LSEG's decision to hand David Schwimmer a 25% pay rise because the Refinitiv deal had made the group a "significantly larger, more international and complex business".

Institutional shareholders are generally wary of executive pay increases triggered by transformational deals before they have produced evidence of the promised cost savings and other benefits.

Shares in LSEG suffered their biggest daily fall in 20 years last month when the company said it would cost more than expected to integrate Refinitiv.

Nevertheless, investors have largely welcomed the combination of LSEG and Refinitiv, propelling the stock to record highs and giving the company a market capitalisation of almost £39bn.

Mr Schwimmer was paid a total of £6.9m last year, up from £2.5m in 2019.

In its annual report, LSEG said: "While the committee is aware that this is a large increase in absolute terms, both salary and total compensation will continue to be positioned below the lower quartile of the FTSE 30, while LSEG will be positioned firmly within the top 15 companies in the FTSE in terms of size."

It was unclear on Thursday which institutions would oppose the company's remuneration report, but one leading investor said the revolt was likely to comprise "a substantial minority" of shareholders.

The vote is advisory, rather than binding.

A spokeswoman for LSEG declined to comment.