London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) said on Thursday it has agreed to buy credit intelligence and data provider Octus for $3.54 billion in cash, its biggest acquisition since the $27 billion Refinitiv deal in 2019, Reuters reported.
Source: Reuters via Euronext
Yaani: $3.54 billion is about 354 crore dollars. LSEG will buy Octus from funds advised by private equity firm Permira and from Octus management, including its founder Kent Collier, for a cash consideration of $3.535 billion, the company said in its official announcement. The deal is expected to close in the first half of 2027.
Why LSEG wants Octus
Founded in 2013 and headquartered in New York, Octus employs more than 900 people — journalists, analysts and legal experts — and serves over 750 customers and more than 40,000 individual users, including banks, investors and law firms, with information on private, illiquid and distressed credit. LSEG said Octus is expected to generate more than $300 million in revenue in 2026, with an adjusted EBITDA margin of around 40%, and that the deal will be earnings-neutral in its first year and add to earnings after that.
“Combining Octus' leading proprietary data and intelligence with LSEG's data and analytics business creates a powerful offering for our customers and further accelerates our growth,” LSEG chief executive David Schwimmer said in a statement.
Source: Dow Jones via Morningstar
Guidance raised alongside the deal
Alongside the acquisition, LSEG raised its full-year guidance after a strong third quarter in which gross profit rose 9.5% to £2.2 billion. The group now expects organic total income excluding recoveries to grow by at least 8.0% this year, up from 7.0% to 7.5%, with its EBITDA margin improving by 100 to 120 basis points and equity free cash flow of at least £2.8 billion. Reuters said LSEG shares rose about 2% in early trading. The group, which operates the London Stock Exchange and the Tradeweb marketplace, has been under pressure from activist investor Elliott to make portfolio changes, Reuters reported.