Financial giants join forces in £9 billion merger

Two of the world’s financial information powerhouses have announced a merger worth more than £9 billion, with the headquarters of the combined company to be based in London.

Business research company IHS, which is based in Colorado in the US, is set to merge with London-based financial information services provider Markit, after the board of directors gave their backing to the mega-deal.

The deal will be an all-share merger of equals, according to both companies, who will now be known as IHS Markit. The newly merged firm plans to keep a US base in Englewood, Colorado, but the headquarters will operate out of London.

Before the merger, IHS employed 9,000 people to provide business research to companies and governments in around 140 countries around the world, while Markit employed some 4,200 people across 13 countries to provide financial data to banks, hedge funds and asset managers.

IHS Markit has said that the merger will save around £87 million by the end of 2019.

Lance Uggla, the chairman and chief executive of Markit, said of the deal: "At the heart of our shared vision is the opportunity to offer our customers a broader and richer content set through both existing and new products that will support their critical decision-making and manage regulatory change.

"The combination will enhance cash flow and enable stronger returns of capital to shareholders.”

Jerre Stead, the chairman and chief executive of IHS, added: "This transformational merger brings together two information-rich companies to create a powerful provider of unique business intelligence, data and analytics to a broad and complementary customer base.”

For more information on mergers, see the guide Post Merger Integration.

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