Business & Markets
LSEG agrees to buy Octus for $3.535 billion in credit-data push
The deal would expand LSEG’s reach in illiquid and private credit as it invests in proprietary data and workflow tools. Completion is expected in the first half of 2027, subject to regulatory approval.
Executive summary
- The agreement: LSEG agreed to acquire Octus for $3.535 billion in cash from funds advised by Permira and Octus management. The deal has not closed and remains subject to regulatory approval.[1][2]
- The strategic fit: Octus supplies credit intelligence, data and workflow products focused on private, illiquid and distressed debt. LSEG says the purchase will extend its fixed-income data and analytics across public and private credit.[1][2]
- The financial case: LSEG forecasts Octus revenue above $300 million in 2026 and expects the acquisition to add to organic revenue growth, while saying it will be neutral to adjusted earnings per share in the first full year after completion. LSEG expects to finance the purchase with external debt.[1]
London Stock Exchange Group said on Oct. 22 that it had agreed to buy Octus for $3.535 billion in cash. The sellers are funds advised by Permira and Octus management, including founder Kent Collier. Reuters described it as LSEG’s largest acquisition since its $27 billion purchase of Refinitiv in 2019. The agreement is a proposed transaction, not a completed transfer.[1][2]
LSEG expects the transaction to close in the first half of 2027, subject to regulatory approval. If it closes, Octus will join LSEG’s Data & Analytics division, and Collier is expected to continue running the business. The announcement does not specify a regulator’s timetable or guarantee approval.[1]
Founded in 2013, Octus provides intelligence, data and workflow software for private, illiquid and distressed credit. Its teams collect hard-to-access loan documents, including covenants and deal terms, and convert them into searchable data for investors and advisers. LSEG says Octus has more than 900 employees, 750 customers and over 40,000 individual users.[1]
The acquisition would add specialist coverage where debt is less frequently traded and information is harder to compare. LSEG already sells fixed-income news, pricing and analytics, including through IFR, LPC and Yield Book. Its stated plan is to combine those products with Octus data and workflows so customers can assess risk and manage portfolios across public and private credit.[1][2]
LSEG presents the deal as a way to join complementary products and expand in private-market data. It estimates private credit at about $3.5 trillion and the market for related data, workflow and access services at $7 billion to $9 billion, with double-digit growth expected. Those are the company’s market estimates, not independently measured transaction outcomes.[1]
Reuters placed the purchase against investor concern that generative AI could disrupt financial-data businesses, reporting that LSEG is emphasizing specialized information that is difficult for broad AI models to reproduce. That context helps explain the strategic timing, but the company’s published rationale also centers on credit-market growth, product integration and cross-selling. The deal alone does not show whether those investments will protect data providers from AI competition.[2][1]
LSEG forecasts Octus will generate more than $300 million in revenue in 2026, with an adjusted EBITDA margin of about 40%. It expects the purchase to lift organic revenue growth in its Data & Analytics division and add to its group subscription-revenue guidance for 2027. Those figures are management forecasts; the eventual contribution will depend on closing, customer retention and execution.[1]
The company says the purchase will be financed with external debt. It expects the deal to be neutral to adjusted earnings per share in the first full year after completion and accretive thereafter. LSEG also projects leverage near the upper end of its 1.5-to-2.5-times target range at the end of 2027, before returning toward the middle by the end of 2028, taking into account the Octus and Trumid acquisitions and its share-buyback plans.[1]