LONDON, March 11, 2026, 15:26 GMT.
RELX slipped roughly 1.3% in London on Wednesday, after news broke that Elsevier is set to acquire Mytonomy, a patient-engagement software outfit, and as the group moved ahead with its latest share buyback. By 15:24 GMT, the stock was trading at 2,593 pence. Broader European stocks were under pressure too.
It’s a significant step for RELX, which has been working to regain investor trust since February’s AI-fueled selloff battered legal and data-analytics stocks. Shareholders are still looking for proof that growth won’t slip away as AI-powered legal and research software rapidly improves. Small acquisitions, cash payouts, and fresh AI offerings need to deliver.
Last month, Chief Executive Erik Engstrom pointed to AI as a growth engine for “many years to come,” after RELX posted 2025 revenue of 9.59 billion pounds, a 7% increase, and adjusted operating profit up 9% at 3.34 billion pounds. The company is looking for another year of robust underlying revenue growth in 2026. Relx
The deal on Tuesday brings a health sector dimension to the story. Elsevier said more than 70 hospitals and 200 clinics already use Mytonomy’s cloud platform and video tools, which integrate with electronic health records—the backbone of hospital care management. Financial details weren’t released. Completion hinges on standard closing conditions. Omry Bigger, Clinical Solutions president at Elsevier, said the acquisition should “unlock important synergies” across technology, content, and healthcare know-how. Elsevier
RELX wrapped up five acquisitions totaling 270 million pounds in 2025, and the Mytonomy deal falls right in line with its selective growth push. In a Tuesday filing, RELX disclosed it repurchased 500,000 shares, paying an average of 2,635.4771 pence each. Since Jan. 2, share buybacks reached 23.73 million. The company is targeting 2.25 billion pounds in buybacks next year, following 1.5 billion pounds spent last year.
The broader question isn’t deal volume or buybacks. RELX’s legal and analytics units face off with Thomson Reuters and Wolters Kluwer—names that tumbled alongside RELX last month, after Anthropic rolled out legal-automation products that spooked investors sector-wide.
Jonathan McMullan at Schroders pointed out at the time that AI is undercutting the old “visibility premium” once enjoyed by incumbents. RELX itself, in its annual-results report, highlighted competition and the chance that acquisitions might not deliver as planned—both flagged as risks to coming performance. Reuters
Buybacks boost earnings per share just by reducing share count. But that doesn’t answer investors’ bigger worry: how fast AI might disrupt research, legal, and risk operations. New deals on their own weren’t going to move the stock much.
RELX is still trading significantly under its 4,183 pence high for the year. The stock slipped on Wednesday, a sign that investors aren’t fully convinced yet—despite targeted acquisitions, fresh AI tools and ongoing cash returns—that the group’s AI-related concerns are in the past.
