Funds advised by BC Partners (“BC Partners”) announced the sale of a majority stake in Acuris, a global provider of proprietary financial intelligence, data and analytics, to ION Investment Group (“ION”). ION will acquire a controlling stake in the company from BC Partners and GIC, Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund. BC Partners and Acuris management are reinvesting and will retain minority ownership.
With nearly 1,500 employees in 66 different locations worldwide, Acuris is a leading global financial information provider, with a large and diversified base of investor, advisory and corporate clients. It provides proprietary insights and analytics across six key financial areas: fixed income, transactions, equities, compliance, infrastructure and research. Acuris’ differentiated content and products, including Mergermarket, Debtwire and several others, are deeply embedded in the workflow of over 115,000 daily users and nearly 5,000 subscribing firms.
Nikos Stathopoulos, 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, in partnership with Hamilton and the management team. 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. We’re proud of the way Acuris has developed over the last five years into a leader in global financial intelligence, data and analytics, and see significant potential for further value creation. ION’s complementary capabilities, technologies and customers make it an ideal partner to support the next stage of Acuris’ growth.”
Hamilton Matthews, CEO of Acuris, said, “We are excited to partner with ION and will benefit from the strength of their platforms and their network of relationships with financial institutions and corporations. On behalf of my firm and my team, I extend our gratitude and appreciation to Nikos and BC Partners for their continued support and guidance and we look forward to partnering with ION and BC Partners as we embark on our next phase of growth.”
Andrea Pignataro, ION’s CEO and Founder said “Acuris’ leading position in financial intelligence, data and analytics is highly complementary to ION’s business. Together, ION and Acuris will continue to deliver innovative, differentiated intelligence and solutions to financial institutions and corporations. We are looking forward to partnering with BC Partners to support the company’s growth and development.”
UBS Investment Bank acted as exclusive financial advisor to ION and provided committed financing in support of the transaction. J.P. Morgan and Goldman Sachs acted as financial advisors to Acuris on the transaction.
