NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)–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.
About BC Partners
BC Partners is a leading international investment firm with over €25
billion of committed capital in private equity, private credit and real
estate. Established in 1986, BC Partners has played an active role in
developing the European buy-out market for three decades. Today, BC
Partners executives operate across markets as an integrated team through
the firm’s offices in North America and Europe. Since inception, BC
Partners Private Equity has completed 108 private equity investments in
companies with a total enterprise value of €135 billion and is currently
investing its tenth private equity fund. For more information, please
visit www.bcpartners.com.
About Acuris
Founded in 2000, Acuris provides proprietary, actionable intelligence,
data and analytics to the world’s principal advisory firms, investment
banks, law firms, hedge funds, private equity firms and corporates.
Acuris owns a portfolio of mission-critical products spanning six key
financial areas including fixed income, transactions, equities,
compliance, infrastructure and research. Acuris is a trusted partner for
its clients with products deeply embedded in subscriber workflows,
enabling users to spot new business opportunities, increase their
revenues and keep several steps ahead of the competition. For more
information, visit www.acuris.com.
About ION Investment Group
ION Investment Group is a holding company that, through its investments,
provides data, analytics and mission-critical trading and workflow
solutions to financial institutions, central banks, governments and
corporates. For more information, visit www.iongroup.com.
Contacts
For BC Partners:
Prosek Partners
[email protected]
+44
20 8323 0475 / +1 646 818 9287
For Acuris:
Chrissy Carney
[email protected]
+1
646 378 3118
For ION:
Steve Grob
[email protected]
+44
20 7105 1258
