{{Short description|Financial news and data firm}} {{Infobox company | name = Acuris | logo = Acuris logo.svg | former_name = Mergermarket Group | type = Subsidiary | founded = {{start date and age|1999|12}} | founders = Caspar Hobbs<br />Charlie Welsh<br />Gawn Rowan Hamilton | hq_location_city = London, United Kingdom | area_served = | key_people = | parent = ION Investment Group | website = {{website |https://www.acuris.com/ }} }}
'''Acuris''' is a British financial news and data firm known for its fixed income research provider ''Debtwire'' and ''Mergermarket'', a specialist in M&A intelligence. It is owned by ION Investment Group, a financial software and data business which owns Fidessa and Dealogic. ION Investment Group bought the company from BC Partners, a private equity group, and GIC Private Limited, Singapore's sovereign wealth fund, in 2019.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-bc-partners-divestiture-acuris-idUSKCN1SJ1GI|title=Dealogic owner ION buys controlling stake in data firm Acuris|date=2019-05-13|work=Reuters|access-date=2019-12-28|language=en}}</ref>
Formerly known as '''Mergermarket Group''', the company has 1,300 staff, including 600 journalists and analysts, in 67 locations around the world,<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.acuris.com/the-acuris-story|title=The Acuris Story|date=2017-05-17|work=Acuris|access-date=2017-12-06|language=en}}</ref> with regional hubs in London, New York, Mumbai and Hong Kong.
==History== Acuris began with a single product, Mergermarket, which was established in December 1999 by founders Caspar Hobbs, Charlie Welsh and Gawn Rowan Hamilton. Its founding idea was that in the M&A market, “There is a lot of information out there but very little intelligence.”<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/army-major-cashes-in-on-mergermarket-sale-411135.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100302160302/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/army-major-cashes-in-on-mergermarket-sale-411135.html |archive-date=2010-03-02 |url-access=limited |url-status=live|title=Army major cashes in on Mergermarket sale|date=2006-08-09|work=The Independent|access-date=2017-12-06|language=en-GB}}</ref>
In August 2006 the company, then known as Mergermarket Ltd, was acquired by The Financial Times Group for £101m,<ref>https://www.pearson.com/news/announcements/2006/august/pearson-acquires-mergermarket-adds-new-financial-content-and-serv.html {{Dead link|date=February 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Pearson agrees to sell Mergermarket unit to BC Partners|url=http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/396ca876-58e9-11e3-a7cb-00144feabdc0.html#axzz3GCY5W3jb|accessdate=15 October 2014|agency=Financial Times|publisher=Financial Times|date=29 November 2013}}</ref> publisher of the Financial Times newspaper and FT.com. FT Group was a division of Pearson PLC, the international media group.
In 2013, the company was renamed to Mergermarket Group. In November 2013, Pearson agreed to sell Mergermarket Group to London private equity investor BC Partners in a transaction valuing the business intelligence and news service at £382m including debt. Based on the deal, Mergermarket Group was valued at 15 times its last year operating income.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.ft.com/content/396ca876-58e9-11e3-a7cb-00144feabdc0|title=Pearson agrees to sell Mergermarket unit to BC Partners|newspaper=Financial Times|date=29 November 2013|last1=Chassany|first1=Anne-Sylvaine|last2=Mance|first2=Henry}}</ref>
On 15 January 2014, Moody's Investors Service assigned a B3 corporate family rating to the Mergermarket Group.<ref name="Moody's Rating Action: Mergermarket">{{cite news |title=Moody's assigns B3 CFR to Mergermarket; stable outlook |url= https://www.moodys.com/research/Moodys-assigns-B3-CFR-to-Mergermarket-stable-outlook--PR_290725?WT.mc_id=NLTITLE_YYYYMMDD_PR_290725 |date=15 January 2014}}</ref>
In July 2017, the Mergermarket Group rebranded as Acuris.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2017-07-11 |title=Mergermarket Group rebrands as "Acuris" |url=https://www.marketing-interactive.com/mergermarket-group-rebrands-as-acuris |access-date=2026-03-13 |website=Marketing-Interactive |language=en}}</ref> The announcement of this move fueled speculation that a sale of the company might come in the next year.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cityam.com/263372/mergermarket-rebrand-fuels-speculation-possible-sale |title=Mergermarket rebrand fuels speculation of possible sale {{!}} City A.M. |website=www.cityam.com |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170427113134/http://www.cityam.com/263372/mergermarket-rebrand-fuels-speculation-possible-sale |archive-date=2017-04-27}} </ref> Indeed, BC Partners sold a minority stake of around 30% to Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC in July 2017.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://realdeals.eu.com/news/2017/07/03/bc-partners-sells-minority-stake-mergermarket-gic/|title = BC Partners sells minority stake in Mergermarket to GIC | Real Deals}}</ref>
In May 2019, BC Partners sold a majority stake in Acuris to ION Investment Group,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Taylor |first=Charlie |title=Dublin-based Ion buys former Mergermarket in deal worth over £1bn |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/business/technology/dublin-based-ion-buys-former-mergermarket-in-deal-worth-over-1bn-1.3891766 |access-date=2026-02-17 |website=The Irish Times |language=en}}</ref> a financial software and data business which owns Fidessa, in an £1.35bn deal.<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Espinoza |first1=Javier |date=12 May 2019 |title=Software and data group Ion buys Acuris in £1.35bn deal |newspaper=Financial Times |url=https://www.ft.com/content/6c3ae9bc-749e-11e9-be7d-6d846537acab |access-date=2019-12-28}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.acuris.com/bc-partners-sells-majority-stake-acuris-ion-investment-group|title=BC Partners sells majority stake in Acuris to ION Investment Group|date=2019-05-13|website=Acuris|language=en|access-date=2019-12-28}}</ref> BC Partners will retain a 25% stake in the company, while GIC is selling out.
== Acquisitions and divestitures == * 2007 – acquired Infinata{{Citation needed|date=March 2026}} * 2010 – acquired Xtract Research * 2012 – acquired Inframation Group<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.privateequitywire.co.uk/2012/09/14/173147/mergermarket-acquires-inframation-group|title=Mergermarket acquires Inframation Group|date=2012-09-14|work=Private Equity Wire|access-date=2017-12-06|language=en}}</ref> * 2013 – Sale of MergerID * 2014 – acquired Perfect Information<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.waterstechnology.com/inside-market-data/news/2352812/mergermarket-completes-gbp26m-perfect-info-buy|title=Mergermarket Completes £26M Perfect Info Buy - WatersTechnology.com|date=2014-06-30|work=WatersTechnology.com|access-date=2017-12-06|language=en}}</ref> * 2014 – acquired Law Report Group<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.globallegalpost.com/global-view/law-report-group-sold-on-to-mergermarket-39280464/|title=Law Report Group sold on to Mergermarket|website=www.globallegalpost.com|access-date=2017-12-06}}</ref> * 2015 – acquired AVCJ and Unquote<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.incisivemedia.com/our-news/incisive-media-sells-avcj-unquote-mergermarket/|title=Incisive Media sells AVCJ and Unquote to Mergermarket - Incisive Media|date=2015-09-22|work=Incisive Media|access-date=2017-12-06|language=en-US}}</ref> * 2015 – acquired C6 Group<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.finsmes.com/2015/11/mergermarket-group-acquires-c6-intelligence.html|title=Mergermarket Group Acquires C6 Intelligence|date=2015-11-12|work=FinSMEs|access-date=2017-12-06|language=en-US}}</ref> * 2016 – acquired Creditflux<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.cityam.com/231849/mergermarket-buys-london-based-creditflux-as-private-equity-owner-bc-partners-looks-for-global-growth-through-acquisitions|title=Mergermarket continues global expansion by buying Creditflux|last=Ratcliffe|first=Madeline|date=2016-01-06|access-date=2017-12-06|language=en}}</ref> * 2017 – Sale of Infinata<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.thetimes.com/business-money/companies/article/data-giant-sells-20m-arm-qhv2j0nlg|title=Data giant sells £20m arm|last=Harrington|first=Ben|date=2017-03-19|work=The Sunday Times|access-date=2017-12-06|issn=0956-1382}}</ref> * 2017 – acquired TIM Group<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://timgroup.com/tim-group-acquired-by-mergermarket-group/|title=Mergermarket Group acquisition|work=TIM Group|access-date=2017-12-06|language=en-GB}}</ref> * 2018 – acquired Spark Spread<ref>{{Cite web |last=Roush |first=Chris |date=2018-06-19 |title=Acuris buys SparkSpread, energy M&A news provider |url=https://talkingbiznews.com/they-talk-biz-news/acuris-buys-sparkspread-energy-ma-news-provider/ |access-date=2026-03-13 |website=Talking Biz News |language=en-US}}</ref> * 2019 – acquired Blackpeak<ref>{{Cite web |date=2019-03-20 |title=Acuris acquires investigative research firm Blackpeak - Hedgeweek |url=https://www.hedgeweek.com/acuris-acquires-investigative-research-firm-blackpeak/ |access-date=2026-02-17 |language=en-GB}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
Category:Business intelligence companies Category:Financial data vendors Category:Consulting firms established in 1999 Category:Financial services companies established in 1999 Category:Research and analysis firms Category:Research and analysis firms of the United Kingdom Category:2013 mergers and acquisitions Category:British companies established in 1999