For all chief executives, there comes a time when the honeymoon with the City is over, even if the rift is only temporary. For David Schwimmer, chief executive of London Stock Exchange Group, it came in March last year, just weeks after he had succeeded in landing his gigantic trophy acquisition, the financial data group Refinitiv.
It had all been going swimmingly. Shareholders loved the idea of the $27 billion deal. Regulators had all been coaxed over the line. Schwimmer had easily smacked away an opportunistic gatecrashing £32 billion bid from his oriental rival Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing.
But the mood turned chilly when for the first time he said the capex and opex needed to invest in the combined business was going to
