London Stock Exchange Group agrees to buy Octus for $3.535 billion
Key Facts
London Stock Exchange Group announced on 22 October 2026 an agreement to buy credit data provider Octus for $3.535 billion in cash, expanding its business with specialist solutions for private and illiquid credit. The group said in its acquisition statement that the sellers include funds advised by Permira, alongside Octus management. The sellers include company founder Kent Collier, who will continue to lead the business after it joins the group. London Stock Exchange Group will fund the cash consideration with external debt, according to the statement. Commenting on the business update, the group's chief executive said the "planned acquisition of Octus adds valuable proprietary solutions in the fast-growing illiquid and private credit space".
The agreement coincided with the group's announcement that total income, excluding recoveries, grew 8.8% in the third quarter of 2026 on an organic, constant-currency basis. Growth on the same basis was 8.6% in the first nine months of the year, according to the official business update. The Data & Analytics division posted third-quarter growth of 5.2%, also on an organic, constant-currency basis. The group raised its full-year total income growth forecast, excluding recoveries and on the same basis, to "at least 8.0%". It also raised its forecast for improvement in its earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation margin at constant currency to 100–120 basis points during 2026. It raised its expected minimum free cash flow to equity to £2.8 billion, compared with previous guidance of £2.7 billion.
London Stock Exchange Group expects Octus revenue to exceed $300 million in 2026, according to the acquisition statement. Its expected adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation margin is around 40% for the same year. When previously disclosing the talks, the group described Octus as having a track record of double-digit revenue growth. That record is underpinned by a subscription model with high customer retention, according to the group's description of the business. Octus has more than 750 clients, while the number of individual users of its services exceeds 40,000, according to the investor presentation accompanying the announcement.
Octus's information sources include more than 11 million documents contributed by clients, according to the transaction presentation published by London Stock Exchange Group. Its fundamental database covers 3,300 issuers, defining the scope of financial coverage included in the acquisition. The platform also includes more than 3,500 financial models alongside that fundamental data. Octus employs more than 280 financial and legal specialists to interpret, verify and contextualise credit information. Complementing the documents, models and specialist expertise is a proprietary, structured credit history spanning more than 12 years, according to the same presentation.
The purchase agreement follows London Stock Exchange Group's confirmation that it was in talks with Permira over Octus. The group said at the time that "no definitive agreement has been reached, and there is no certainty that any transaction will be completed". Permira's ties to the company date back to Warburg Pincus's sale of its controlling stake in Reorg, Octus's former name, to Permira, according to legal adviser Kirkland & Ellis's statement on the investment. The Reorg team retained a substantial ownership stake in that transaction, ahead of the new sale agreement that includes Octus management. Octus, for its part, expanded its credit and portfolio management ecosystem by completing the acquisition of LevPro on 10 June 2026, according to the company's announcement.
London Stock Exchange Group designated its Data & Analytics division as the home for Octus's operations within the group following the acquisition. Collier will remain responsible for running the business under the arrangements set out in the transaction statement. He will report to the co-heads of Data & Analytics. The group expects to complete the acquisition in the first half of 2027. Completion remains subject to regulatory approval, according to the statement.