LSEG to Acquire Octus for $3.535bn to Boost Credit Data Offering

London Stock Exchange Group plc (LSEG) has agreed to acquire Octus, a provider of credit intelligence, data and workflows, for a cash consideration of $3.535 billion. The seller is a group comprising funds advised by Permira and Octus’ management, including founder Kent Collier.

The deal follows LSEG’s confirmation earlier in October that it was in talks with Permira about a possible acquisition.

LSEG said the acquisition will transform its presence in credit and private market data, creating a leading proposition in these high-growth areas. By combining Octus’ capabilities with LSEG’s fixed income data, analytics and distribution, customers are expected to benefit from integrated solutions and intelligence across public and private credit, enabling them to source deals, assess risk and manage portfolios through LSEG’s platform.

The transaction is expected to be immediately accretive to LSEG’s Data & Analytics organic revenue growth and additive to its guidance for Group organic subscription revenue growth of around 7% in 2027. LSEG said Octus’ strong margin profile and operating leverage mean there is no change to its medium-term guidance for underlying EBITDA margin to increase by a cumulative c. 150 basis points from 2027 to 2029 from the 2026 baseline. The deal is expected to be neutral to Adjusted EPS in the first full year after completion and accretive thereafter.

The acquisition will be financed by external debt. LSEG expects leverage at the end of 2027 to be around the upper end of its target range of 1.5-2.5x, before returning to the middle of the range by the end of 2028. This forecast allows for cash flow, completion of the current £3 billion share buyback programme by February 2027, completion of the Octus and Trumid acquisitions, and capacity for further share buybacks of £1-1.5 billion.

The transaction is expected to close in the first half of 2027, subject to regulatory approval. Upon completion, Octus will become part of LSEG’s Data & Analytics division, with Kent Collier, Founder and CEO of Octus, continuing to run the Octus businesses and reporting to Gianluca Biagini and Ron Lefferts, Co-Heads of Data & Analytics.

LSEG CEO David Schwimmer said the combination of Octus’ proprietary data and intelligence with LSEG’s data and analytics business creates a powerful offering for customers and accelerates growth. He added that the acquisition enables LSEG to deliver credit data, intelligence and workflows across the liquidity spectrum to a broader range of customers, and that LSEG’s existing capabilities, together with the Trumid acquisition announced by Tradeweb and now Octus, position LSEG as a global leader in fixed income.

Kent Collier said Octus’ customer-first mindset and drive to deliver the best products to clients is a natural cultural fit with LSEG. He added that joining LSEG will pair Octus’ data, intelligence and workflows with global distribution and fixed income depth, providing opportunity for further growth and expansion.