Key Takeaways
- • LSEG agreed to acquire Octus, a credit intelligence, data and workflow provider, for $3.535 billion in cash from funds advised by Permira and Octus management, including founder Kent Collier.
- • Octus is expected to generate over $300 million in 2026 revenue with strong double-digit growth and an adjusted EBITDA margin of around 40%.
- • The deal combines Octus's illiquid and private credit capabilities with LSEG's fixed income data, analytics and distribution, with particular buy-side reach among hedge funds and alternative investment managers.
- • The transaction is expected to be immediately accretive to Data & Analytics organic revenue growth, neutral to Adjusted EPS in the first full year after completion, and accretive thereafter, financed by external debt.
- • The deal is expected to close in H1 2027, subject to regulatory approval.
Summary
LSEG (London Stock Exchange Group plc) announced it has agreed to acquire Octus, a New York-headquartered provider of credit intelligence, data and analytics, for a cash consideration of $3.535 billion. The seller group includes funds advised by Permira and Octus management, including founder and CEO Kent Collier. Octus was founded in 2013, has more than 900 employees, 750 customers and over 40,000 individual users, including buy-side firms, investment banks, law firms and advisory firms.
Octus focuses on private, illiquid and distressed credit, sourcing hard-to-access credit documentation, including covenants and deal terms, and converting it into structured, searchable data. Customers access its content through its platform, an MCP connector or AI workflows. The company expects 2026 revenue of over $300 million, with strong double-digit growth, an adjusted EBITDA margin of around 40%, and double-digit compound revenue growth since 2022.
LSEG said the acquisition would extend its existing fixed income franchise, which includes IFR news, evaluated pricing, corporate actions, Yield Book and LPC analytics, into illiquid and private credit. The company estimates the private credit industry has grown to roughly $3.5 trillion, and that the private markets data, workflow and access solutions segment is worth $7-9 billion and growing at a double-digit rate. LSEG also cited Octus's strong buy-side footprint, particularly among hedge funds and alternative investment managers, where LSEG has historically been under-penetrated. Octus will join LSEG's Data & Analytics division, with Kent Collier continuing to run the business and reporting to Gianluca Biagini and Ron Lefferts, Co-Heads of Data & Analytics.
CEO David Schwimmer said the acquisition positions LSEG as a global leader in fixed income, alongside Tradeweb's planned acquisition of Trumid. Financially, LSEG expects the deal to be immediately accretive to Data & Analytics organic revenue growth and additive to its guidance for around 7% Group organic subscription revenue growth in 2027. Management said there is no change to its medium-term target of a cumulative c.150 basis point increase in underlying EBITDA margin over 2027-2029. The deal is expected to be neutral to Adjusted EPS in the first full year after completion and accretive thereafter. LSEG expects leverage at end-2027 to be around the upper end of its 1.5-2.5x target range, returning to the middle of the range by end-2028, after accounting for its £3 billion buyback, the Octus and Trumid deals, and £1-1.5 billion of further buyback capacity. Morgan Stanley and Barclays advised LSEG, while Evercore and Goldman Sachs advised Octus's shareholders. The announcement was released alongside LSEG's Q3 2026 trading update.
Octus focuses on private, illiquid and distressed credit, sourcing hard-to-access credit documentation, including covenants and deal terms, and converting it into structured, searchable data. Customers access its content through its platform, an MCP connector or AI workflows. The company expects 2026 revenue of over $300 million, with strong double-digit growth, an adjusted EBITDA margin of around 40%, and double-digit compound revenue growth since 2022.
LSEG said the acquisition would extend its existing fixed income franchise, which includes IFR news, evaluated pricing, corporate actions, Yield Book and LPC analytics, into illiquid and private credit. The company estimates the private credit industry has grown to roughly $3.5 trillion, and that the private markets data, workflow and access solutions segment is worth $7-9 billion and growing at a double-digit rate. LSEG also cited Octus's strong buy-side footprint, particularly among hedge funds and alternative investment managers, where LSEG has historically been under-penetrated. Octus will join LSEG's Data & Analytics division, with Kent Collier continuing to run the business and reporting to Gianluca Biagini and Ron Lefferts, Co-Heads of Data & Analytics.
CEO David Schwimmer said the acquisition positions LSEG as a global leader in fixed income, alongside Tradeweb's planned acquisition of Trumid. Financially, LSEG expects the deal to be immediately accretive to Data & Analytics organic revenue growth and additive to its guidance for around 7% Group organic subscription revenue growth in 2027. Management said there is no change to its medium-term target of a cumulative c.150 basis point increase in underlying EBITDA margin over 2027-2029. The deal is expected to be neutral to Adjusted EPS in the first full year after completion and accretive thereafter. LSEG expects leverage at end-2027 to be around the upper end of its 1.5-2.5x target range, returning to the middle of the range by end-2028, after accounting for its £3 billion buyback, the Octus and Trumid deals, and £1-1.5 billion of further buyback capacity. Morgan Stanley and Barclays advised LSEG, while Evercore and Goldman Sachs advised Octus's shareholders. The announcement was released alongside LSEG's Q3 2026 trading update.
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