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EC approves $44bn merger of S&P Global and IHS Markit

FMergers and aquisitionsinancial information services firm S&P Global has received conditional approval from the European Commission for its proposed takeover of fellow market data provider IHS Markit.

Should the deal proceed, it would create a financial data firm to rival the merger of the London Stock Exchange and Refinitiv, a deal that was finally completed in January 2021.

The EC’s conditional green light comes days after the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) approved the deal.

In order to progress the merger, which was announced back in November 2020, both firms have agreed to divest a number of business. S&P Global has committed to sell CUSIP Global Services and Leveraged Commentary and Data business.

IHS Markit will divest a number of services around the oil, coal, metal and mining industries in relation to the SMA’s concerns.

"The European Commission's decision provides clarity on the steps we will need to implement to complete our combination,” said S&P Global president and chief executive Douglas Peterson.

“Once concluded, I expect the merger of these two great businesses to accelerate innovation within our core services and generate exciting new opportunities that deliver on our capacity to power the markets of the future," he added.

S&P Global is currently third in terms of annual revenue in the financial information market, behind Bloomberg and Refinitiv.

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