BC Partners, GIC selling stake in Acuris

Singapore's sovereign wealth fund GIC and private equity firm BC Partners will sell their majority stake in financial media and data firm Acuris to Irish software company Ion Investment Group.

The deal is said to be worth some £1.35 billion (S$2.4 billion) including debt, Reuters reported.

London-based Acuris - known for its Mergermarket and Debtwire news and data services - was acquired by BC Partners via a carve-out from publishing group Pearson for £382 million in 2013.

In June 2017, BC Partners divested a 30 per cent stake in Acuris to GIC.

As part of the deal, BC Partners will retain a minority 25 per cent stake in Acuris, while GIC will sell its entire interest in the company, the Financial Times said.

With nearly 1,500 employees in 66 locations worldwide, Acuris is a global financial information provider with a diversified base of investor, advisory and corporate clients, the company said in a press statement on Monday.

It provides proprietary insights and analytics across six key financial areas: fixed income, transactions, equities, compliance, infrastructure and research.

Among other contenders gunning for Acuris previously, credit ratings agency Moody's emerged as one of the strongest after Fitch pulled out of the race, media reports show.

Mr Nikos Stathopoulos, a partner at BC Partners and chairman of Acuris, said: "When we invested in Acuris in 2014, we saw an opportunity to accelerate its growth and to build a strong franchise... We invested significantly in Acuris' technology platform, expanded geographically, launched new products, content and data sets and executed nine accretive acquisitions, which have allowed us to create new product divisions.

"Ion's complementary capabilities, technologies and customers make it an ideal partner to support the next stage of Acuris' growth."

Ion is the owner of data provider Dealogic.

UBS Investment Bank acted as exclusive financial adviser to Ion, and provided committed financing in support of this deal.

JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs also served as financial advisers to Acuris on the transaction.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on May 15, 2019, with the headline BC Partners, GIC selling stake in Acuris. Subscribe