The London Stock Exchange is looking to offload the Milan Exchange as the company hones in on its deal for data giant Refinitiv.
The Group announced it would buy Refinitiv off Reuters for $27 billion (£22.4 billion) last year but the European Union has expressed concerns on competition grounds.
LSE - which bought the Milan Exchange in 2007 for $2.2 billion - said it had begun “exploratory discussions” which could result in the Italian arm being sold.
Rival exchanges Euronext and Deutsche Boerse are both expected to be interested in the Italian operations.
If LSE secures the deal, the company will become a major player in financial and market data and make the Group a direct rival to Bloomberg.
LSE expects the deal to go through by early next year.
LSE also recorded a solid first half results performance as profits rose 8% to £575 million and revenues jumped 4% to £1.06 billion.
There was a 16% hike in the interim dividend to 23.3p per share.
