Nasdaq OMX, Markit Have Expressed Interest in Interactive Data Corp.
Sale could value IDC at more than $5 billion, including debt
Nasdaq OMX Group Inc. and Markit Ltd. have expressed interest in acquiring financial data provider Interactive Data Corp., according to people familiar with the matter.
Nasdaq and Markit and some private-equity firms are among potential suitors eyeing IDC, some of the people said, adding that all talks are at an early stage and won’t necessarily result in a deal. A deal could value the company at more than $5 billion, including debt, some people said. The company had $2.2 billion of debt outstanding as of March 31.
IDC competes with companies including Bloomberg LP and Thomson Reuters Corp. in providing pricing and data services to traders, portfolio managers, and risk and compliance teams at financial institutions.
Silver Lake and Warburg Pincus LLC bought IDC in a 2010 leveraged buyout deal valued at roughly $3.2 billion. As earlier reported by Reuters, the two firms are weighing a sale of the company as well as an initial public offering, in what’s known as a “dual-track” process, some of the people said.
IDC said last week that it filed confidential paperwork for a potential IPO, with the goal of using proceeds to reduce debt and for other corporate purposes. The JOBS Act allows companies with revenue below $1 billion to keep IPO filings confidential until they are ready to market shares to prospective investors.
Interactive Data said earlier this year that its 2014 revenue was $939.2 million, up 3.8% from 2013. The company said it benefited from expansion in its pricing and reference data, real-time feeds and trading-infrastructure units.
IDC took on roughly $2.2 billion in new debt last year, according to Moody’s Investors Service, in part to pay a dividend of roughly $270 million that mostly went to Silver Lake and Warburg.
Under Chief Executive Officer Robert Greifeld, Nasdaq has sought to diversify from its traditional stock-exchange businesses. Over the past decade, the company has added a raft of businesses that are related to trading, such as investor relations, trade surveillance and corporate board communications. Its stock has risen 6.4% this year, giving it a market value of $8.6 billion.
London-based Markit, which went public just over a year ago and has a market value of around $5 billion, has been on the hunt for acquisitions.
Source: WSJ – Nasdaq OMX, Markit Have Expressed Interest in Interactive Data Corp.
