London Stock Exchange to acquire Mergent Inc. 

• Mergent Inc. is a leading provider of business and financial information on public and private companies
• Acquisition supports FTSE Russell’s core index offering, especially in the creation of factor-based, passive investment products
• Adds to LSEG’s data and analytics capabilities
• Strong investor demand for underlying benchmark data and analysis tools

London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) today announces that it has signed an agreement to acquire 100 per cent of the issued share capital of Mergent’s holding company (the “Transaction”). The Mergent business will form part of LSEG’s Information Services Division, which includes FTSE Russell, a global leader in indexes, and a range of real time and reference data products, such as SEDOL, UnaVista and RNS. Completion of the Transaction, which is expected to occur by 31 January 2017, is conditional on, among other things, expiration or termination of the waiting period under the US Hart-Scott-Rodino Act. The terms of the Transaction have not been disclosed.

For over 100 years, Mergent Inc. has been a leading provider of business and financial information on public and private companies globally. With advanced data collection services, cloud-based applications, desktop analytics and print products, Mergent provides data and analysis including top down economic and demographic information, detailed equity and debt fundamental analysis and research services. These solutions, which include data on 385,000 Corporate Bonds, 3.6 million US Municipal Bonds and 250 million public and private companies, are delivered to more than 4,000 customers worldwide including investment firms, brokerage houses and law firms.

The acquisition of Mergent will support the growth of FTSE Russell’s core index offering, supplying underlying data and analytics for the creation of a wide range of indexes. The significant growth of passive investment is increasing the demand for smart-beta and customised indexes, which incorporates factors such as volatility, quality and liquidity into index creation. Multi-factor indexes, which include stocks with specific characteristics, are an important and innovative new tool for examining markets and creating investable products and FTSE Russell is well-positioned to meet this growing customer demand. LSEG and FTSE Russell also intend to expand and align Mergent’s activities to enable them to meet the growing demands of its existing client base.

Mark Makepeace, Group Director of Information Services and CEO of FTSE Russell said:

“The acquisition of Mergent supports the continuing strong growth of FTSE Russell and LSEG’s data services. Mergent will broaden our range of data services, research and analytics to meet the increasing demands of our clients for benchmarks and related data and analytic services.”

Jonathan Worrall, CEO of Mergent Inc. said:

“Mergent is delighted to become part of FTSE Russell and the wider London Stock Exchange Group. Mergent has a long history of developing innovative new products for its clients, delivering comprehensive financial data on public and private companies around the world. The transaction provides Mergent with a fantastic opportunity to develop our global product offering as part of a leading markets infrastructure group.”

Lazard Middle Market acted as financial advisor and K&L Gates LLP acted as legal advisor to Mergent Inc. Sagent Advisors acted as financial advisor and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer US LLP acted as legal advisor to London Stock Exchange Group.

Source: LSEG

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