The London Stock Exchange Group has agreed to sell the Milan stock exchange to the rival group Euronext for €4.3bn (£3.9bn) in cash, clearing the way for the LSE’s purchase of the financial data provider Refinitiv.

The LSE and Euronext, which owns several European stock exchanges including the Paris bourse, began exclusive talks over the Borsa Italiana deal in September.

The Amsterdam-based Euronext fought off competition from other stock exchange operators including Germany’s Deutsche Börse and Switzerland’s Six for the Italian firm.

The LSE believes selling Borsa Italiana will help it to gain regulatory approval from the European commission for its $27bn (£21bn) deal to buy Refinitiv, whose Eikon terminals are found on trading floors and compete against those supplied by Bloomberg.

The LSE’s chief executive, David Schwimmer, said the group believed the sale of Borsa Italiana “will contribute significantly to addressing the EU’s competition concerns” over its Refinitiv purchase.

“We continue to make good progress on the highly attractive Refinitiv transaction and we are pleased to have reached this important milestone,” Schwimmer said.

Refinitiv is owned by a consortium including Blackstone and Thomson Reuters, the owner of the Reuters news service.

The LSE announced in August 2019 that it intended to purchase Refinitiv, allowing the London Stock Exchange operator to become a UK-headquartered global rival to Michael Bloomberg’s financial news and data business.

The group said at the time that Refinitiv would enable it to increase its presence in the US, the world’s biggest financial market, and aid expansion in Asia and emerging markets.

The LSE said the Borsa Italiana deal was conditional on the European commission confirming that the sale of all or part of the Milan stock exchange would allow it to give clearance to its purchase of Refinitiv.

The LSE bought Borsa Italiana in 2007 for €1.6bn, partly in a bid to fend off takeover attempts from its US rival Nasdaq.