LSEG in talks to buy Permira's Octus financial data group for about $3.5 billion

By Amy-Jo Crowley

LONDON, Oct 13 (Reuters) - ‌The London Stock ​Exchange Group ​is in talks with private equity firm Permira to acquire Octus for about $3.5 billion, the London-listed group said Tuesday, confirming a Reuters report.

No final agreement ‌has been reached and no transaction is guaranteed, LSEG said, adding that ⁠the New York-headquartered financial data group has a strong track record of double-digit revenue growth based on a ‌high-retention subscription model.

LSEG shares, which had ‌dipped more than 2% on the Reuters report earlier on Tuesday, extended losses to fall 4.7% by 1342 GMT.

"Octus' coverage and solutions are highly complementary to LSEG's existing ​fixed income data & analytics and private markets solutions," LSEG said, adding that a deal would be immediately accretive to LSEG's Data & Analytics and group revenue growth.

PERMIRA BOUGHT CONTROLLING STAKE ⁠IN OCTUS IN 2022

London-based Permira is working with advisers to evaluate interest in Octus, two people with knowledge of the ​situation said. Permira declined to comment.

The private equity firm, which has been planning a sale of Octus since last year, has also held ​talks with other potential buyers, one of the people ‌said. It acquired a controlling stake in Octus at a valuation of $1.3 billion from Warburg Pincus in 2022.

Octus provides information on credit markets, with ⁠a focus on companies in financial distress, for banks and investors. It employs journalists, analysts and legal experts, using technology to scour regulatory and court filings.

A potential Octus transaction, if it went ahead, ⁠would mark a further uptick in dealmaking in the data analytics sector, despite a selloff in listed stocks ​earlier this year.

YipitData, backed by investors including Carlyle Group, is exploring a sale that could value the data analytics provider at more than $2.5 billion, while Vista Equity Partners is exploring a sale of private ‌markets data provider Allvue.

LSEG has been under pressure to improve its performance from activist investor Elliott Management, which disclosed a stake in the ‌exchange operator in February.

LSEG is the largest customer of Reuters, which provides news for its Workspace ⁠news and data platform and other ‌products.

(Reporting by Amy-Jo Crowley in ​London; Additional reporting by Milana Vinn in New York and Tommy Reggiori Wilkes in London; Editing by Anousha Sakoui, Elisa Martinuzzi, Alexander Smith and ‌Jan Harvey)

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