Show M&A signals
We completed five acquisitions for a total consideration of £195m, and seven disposals for £95m.
We intend to deploy a total of £1,500m on share buybacks in 2025, of which £150m has already been completed.
selective acquisitions of targeted data, analytics and exhibition assets that support our organic growth strategies
Selective acquisitions of targeted data, analytics, and exhibition assets to support organic growth strategies.
Acquisition spend was slightly below normal range with £195 million on five acquisitions, and seven disposals with aggregate consideration of £95 million.
Acquired SciBite (2020-08-21) for GBP 65.0M
Acquired ThreatMetrix (2018-01-29) for USD 817.0M
Acquired Lex Machina (2015-11-23)
Acquired Adaptris Group (2015-10-27)
Acquired SciBite (2020-08-21) for GBP 65.0M
Acquired ThreatMetrix (2018-01-29) for USD 817.0M
Acquired ThreatMetrix, Inc. (2018-01-01) for USD 821.0M
Acquired Lex Machina (2015-11-23)
Acquired Adaptris Group (2015-10-27)
RELX completed five small acquisitions for total consideration of GBP 270 million and made two small disposals. Luff highlighted IDVerse, described as an ID document verification platform for Business Services and Risk, as the most significant acquisition and said it completed in the first quarter.
RELX acquired SciBite in 2020 for GBP 65.0M.
RELX acquired ThreatMetrix in 2018 for USD 817.0M (and USD 821.0M).
RELX acquired Lex Machina in 2015.
RELX acquired Adaptris Group in 2015.
Show strategic signals
RELX emphasizes the development of increasingly sophisticated analytics and decision tools, supported by selective acquisitions of targeted data, analytics, and exhibition assets.
RELX highlights the use of artificial intelligence and other technologies to combine leading content and data sets for enhanced customer value and growth.
RELX mentions leveraging deep customer understanding to deploy tools across the company, indicating a focus on data-driven HR and workforce solutions.
RELX reports strong growth in databases and tools, which now represent almost 25% of STM divisional revenues, driven by content development and enhanced functionality.
RELX completed five acquisitions for a total consideration of £195m and seven disposals for £95m in 2024, indicating selective M&A appetite for data, analytics, and HR-related assets.
RELX deployed £1,000m on share buybacks in 2024 and intends to deploy £1,500m in 2025, reflecting strong financial position and cash flow to invest in strategic priorities.
RELX's primary focus on the organic development of increasingly sophisticated analytics and decision tools supported by selective acquisitions of targeted data, analytics, and exhibition assets that support organic growth strategies.
Continued enhancement of customer value in STM (Scientific, Technical, Medical) through broader content sets, more sophisticated analytics, and evolving technology platforms.
Databases and tools now represent almost 25% of STM divisional revenues, driving strong growth across market segments through content development and enhanced functionality.
Open access publishing program now includes over 370 dedicated open access journals, with growth rate accelerating further in 2019 as market share gains continued.
Risk & Business Analytics segment grew strongly at 7% with operating profit growth of 8%, driven by enhanced analytics, dataset extensions, and expansion into adjacent verticals.
Strong growth in Business Services driven by further development of fraud prevention and risk management analytics.
Data Services drove strong growth in all key verticals within Risk & Business Analytics.
RELX's ESG performance recognized with high ratings, including second in S&P Global 1200 by CSRHUB and AAA ESG rating with MSCI.
RELX's strategic focus on organic development of sophisticated analytics and decision tools, supplemented by targeted acquisitions of data, analytics, and exhibition assets to support growth.
Continued investment in AI-enabled analytics and decision tools, with over 90% of Risk division revenue coming from machine-to-machine interactions.
Lexis+ AI, leveraging generative AI, made good progress in the U.S. and international markets, and Protégé, a next-generation generative AI legal assistant, was positively received by customers.
RELX's improving long-term growth trajectory driven by a shift toward higher-growth analytics and decision tools delivering enhanced customer value.
Strategy of driving continuous process innovation to manage cost growth below revenue growth, resulting in higher growth profile with improving returns.
Strong ESG performance recognized by high ratings from external agencies (e.g., AAA ESG rating with MSCI, ranked second in S&P Global 1200 by CSRHUB).
Elsevier supported the scientific and medical response to the pandemic by providing free access to over 50,000 relevant articles, downloaded over 200 million times.
Shift in business mix towards higher-growth analytics and decision tools delivering enhanced value to customers, improving long-term growth trajectory and quality of growth.
Databases, tools, and electronic reference (representing ~40% of divisional revenue) delivered strong growth, with new product introductions and renewals driving momentum.
RELX employs 36,000+ people (40% in North America), with a workforce growth of +6.9% YoY (+184 people).
Active job postings: 319, with trends showing +13.9% quarterly and +5216.7% yearly growth, indicating aggressive hiring in tech and product roles.
Tech stack includes AI/ML tools (e.g., Jupyter Notebook, Databricks, Power BI, ML-focused roles like 'Software Engineer II (Machine Learning)').
HR talent sources include LexisNexis, Deloitte, Reed Business Information, IBM, Elsevier, and Thomson Reuters, with alumni moving to competitors like Amazon, RX Global, and Korn Ferry.
Employer rating of 4.0/5.0 (855 reviews), with strengths in work-life balance (4.2) and culture (4.0), but weaknesses in compensation (3.6).
Brightmine NL (HR services division under LexisNexis Data Services) provides people data, analytics, and AI-enabled HR solutions to 10,000+ customers.
Brightmine NL employs 23 people (-7.4% YoY), headquartered in Amsterdam, Netherlands.
Shift in business mix towards higher-growth analytics and decision tools delivering enhanced value to customers
Strong growth in Business Services driven by financial crime compliance and fraud/identity solutions with strong new sales
Databases, tools, and electronic reference (representing ~40% of divisional revenue) delivered strong growth
Increasing pace of new product introductions, renewals, and new sales in STM (Scientific, Technical, Medical) segment
RELX serves customers in 180+ countries with 35,000+ employees, with 40%+ workforce in North America
Brightmine (HR services division) uses AI-enabled technology and trusted HR expertise to empower HR leaders with people data and analytics
Brightmine focuses on translating HR tools, expertise, and data into solutions for HR leaders to deliver business outcomes
RELX's AI strategy includes a 'technology agnostic' and 'tool agnostic, multi-model architecture' approach, partnering with multiple large language model providers (e.g., Anthropic, OpenAI) while continuously testing new releases with customers.
Lexis+ AI enterprise subscribers more than doubled in the past year, with 'multiple hundreds of thousands' of users globally and usage growing faster than the customer base.
Protégé workflows expanded to 'nearing 300' workflows, with the ability to launch 'another 2 or 3 a day'. Management described these as content-related workflows embedded in RELX platforms.
RELX has used a 'technology agnostic' and 'tool agnostic, multi-model architecture' approach since the early stages of the GenAI trend.
Management highlighted strong AI adoption and product rollout, including Lexis+ AI and Protégé workflows, as key drivers of growth in the Legal division.
RELX continues to expand its differentiated data set, build out its global fraud infrastructure, and more deeply integrate advanced authentication and behavioral intelligence in Business Services and Risk divisions.
RELX's strategic direction is unchanged, with improving long-term growth trajectory driven by the ongoing shift in business mix towards higher-growth analytics and decision tools, supported by the continued evolution of artificial intelligence.
RELX expects continued strong underlying revenue growth with underlying adjusted operating profit growth exceeding underlying revenue growth across all business areas.