London Stock Exchange Group said Tuesday it is negotiating to acquire Octus from private equity firm Permira for roughly $3.5 billion, confirming a Bloomberg News report. The company said the purchase would boost revenue growth right away in its data and analytics unit and at the group level. It also noted that talks continue and nothing is signed.
By late afternoon in London, the stock was off about 5%, valuing the company at around £40.1 billion, or $53.1 billion. A Permira representative declined to comment.
Octus, previously known as Reorg, is a New York based provider of credit intelligence and financial data founded in 2013. It concentrates on financing tied to leverage, troubled debt, corporate restructurings, and private-credit markets. In 2022, Permira committed capital to the company.
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LSEG has been pushing beyond its core exchange operations and deeper into data, highlighted by its $27 billion purchase of Refinitiv completed in 2021. That shift was a bet on a future powered by information and helped diversify the business as new listings have been harder to attract. Bloomberg LP, the parent of Bloomberg News, is among the companies that compete with Octus in financial data.
If completed, LSEG says the acquisition would immediately contribute to revenue growth in its data-and-analytics business and for the group overall, while noting that a final agreement has not yet been reached.
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