London Stock Exchange Group agrees to buy Octus for $3.535 billion in cash
Key Facts
London Stock Exchange Group announced on 22 October 2026 that it had agreed to buy credit data specialist Octus for $3.535 billion in cash, adding the platform's proprietary specialist data. The group said in its deal statement that the sellers were funds managed by Permira and Octus management. The sellers include company founder Kent Collier, who owns the business alongside the management team. The group will fund the cash consideration through external borrowing, according to the statement. Shares in London Stock Exchange Group rose 6% in trading that day as it announced the agreement and third-quarter results, Reuters reported.
The group's official disclosure showed total income, excluding recoveries, of £2.407 billion in the third quarter of 2026, compared with £2.219 billion in the same period of 2025. Reported growth was 8.5%, while organic growth at constant currency was 8.8%. The Markets division led business performance with organic growth at constant currency of 12.5%. FTSE Russell followed with growth of 10.2%, then Risk Intelligence with an increase of 9.8%. The Data and Analytics division posted growth of 5.2% on the same basis. The group's subscription businesses recorded third-quarter growth of 6.6% at constant currency, according to the trading update.
The group raised its forecast for organic income growth at constant currency, excluding recoveries, to at least 8.0% in 2026. It had raised that forecast to a range of 7.0% to 7.5% when it announced its first-half results. The current minimum target therefore exceeds the upper end of the range announced with the first-half results. The group also expects its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation margin to expand by 100–120 basis points at constant currency during the year. It also expects free cash flow to equity of at least £2.8 billion in 2026, according to its financial update.
Permira's funds have owned Octus since 2022, when they acquired it in partnership with founder and Chief Executive Kent Collier and the management team to support its expansion. Permira said in its sale statement that the company's annual recurring revenue had increased to more than 3 times its previous level during its funds' ownership. The platform currently serves more than 40,000 subscribers worldwide, according to the same statement. London Stock Exchange Group expects Octus's annual revenue to exceed $300 million in 2026. It also estimates its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation margin at about 40%, according to the investor presentation accompanying the third-quarter update.
Octus's business relies on teams that gather hard-to-access credit documents, according to Permira's description of the company. These documents include private fundamental data, contractual covenants and deal terms. The teams turn those materials into structured, searchable data, forming the specialist content the platform provides to its subscribers. London Stock Exchange Group Chief Executive David Schwimmer said the acquisition gives the group proprietary Octus data that large language models cannot gather from other sources, according to Reuters. This comes as the group reported that 95% of its 200 largest clients use its artificial intelligence products.
London Stock Exchange Group expects to complete the acquisition in the first half of 2027, subject to regulatory approval, according to the agreement statement. On completion, Octus will join the group's Data and Analytics division. Collier, Octus's founder and chief executive, will continue to run the business after the ownership transfer. In terms of financial returns, the group expects the deal's impact on adjusted earnings per share to be "neutral in the first full year and accretive thereafter", according to its investor presentation. That estimate relates to the first full year following the acquisition, while the expected transfer of the business in the first half of 2027 remains subject to regulatory approval.