Private Credit Reporter

LSEG to buy Octus in $3.5 billion deal to shield from AI disruption. Published on 10/22/2026 at 02:13 am EDT - Modified on 10/22/2026 at 02:13 pm EDT LONDON, Oct 22 (Reuters) - The London Stock Exchange Group will buy credit data firm Octus for $3.54 billion, it said on Thursday, marking its biggest acquisition in seven years as it seeks to bolster its data and analytics offering in the face of AI-linked disruption. LSEG CEO David Schwimmer said the deal gave the company access to Octus' highly specialised proprietary data, which no large language model was "going to be able to scoop... up anywhere". LSEG shares jumped 6%, erasing year-to-date losses and putting the stock up 4% this year. They are still down about 24% from their 2025 peak, weighed down by investor concerns that AI could disrupt the group's financial data business and squeeze margins. The operator of the London Stock Exchange and the Tradeweb marketplace is repositioning to keep up with the rapid pace of AI adoption among investors and businesses. It expects the Octus purchase to be neutral to adjusted earnings in the first full year after completion and to add to earnings thereafter, it said in a statement alongside a third-quarter update where it raised annual guidance for revenue and margins. The deal, which it said will "transform LSEG's presence in credit and private market data", is due to be financed by external debt. Octus will add $300 million-$320 million to revenue this year, LSEG CFO Michel-Alain Proch said on an investor call. The company has also been under pressure from activist investor Elliott, which is pushing for portfolio changes, Reuters previously reported, as AI affects how investors and businesses trade and use data. Elliott, which disclosed a stake in the group in February, did not respond to a request for comment on the Octus deal. LSEG has previously said that there had been "good, constructive dialogue with Elliott". DEALMAKING The Octus acquisition comes just after Tradeweb Markets - majority owned by LSEG - announced that it would buy bond-trading platform Trumid for almost $2 billion on Monday. "We have looked at many deals over the last five years, and very few made the cut. In terms of strategic fit or financial return, these acquisitions do both," Schwimmer said on the investor call. LSEG said Octus' product set and customer coverage "are highly complementary" to its existing fixed-income products, allowing it to expand its services in that market. Octus employs journalists, analysts and legal experts to provide information on credit markets, with a focus on companies in financial distress, for banks and investors. LSEG, which is working to roll out AI tools and license its proprietary data, is seeing "great" AI adoption and significant signs of monetisation at this point, Schwimmer said, adding that he expected that to continue. In 2019, LSEG agreed to buy Refinitiv for $27 billion from Reuters parent Thomson Reuters, to help it become a major distributor as well as a creator of market data. ANNUAL GUIDANCE RAISED The company on Thursday forecast organic total income excluding recoveries to grow at least 8% at constant currencies, up from its previously forecast range of 7% to 7.5%. LSEG added that it expects to conclude its current share repurchase programme by February 2027, and that it has capacity for further share buybacks of between £1 billion and £1.5 billion ($1.34 billion and $2.01 billion) next year. "We think this is a good print, and the revision of the targets, combined with the announcement of potential additional buybacks, despite the planned acquisitions by the Group, should be well received today," said JPMorgan analysts in a note. Morgan Stanley was the lead advisor to LSEG. Evercore and Goldman Sachs advised Octus' shareholders including majority owner buyout group Permira. LSEG is the largest customer of Reuters, which provides news for its Workspace news and data platform and other products. ($1 = 0.7473 pounds) (Reporting by Pushkala Aripaka in Bengaluru, Samuel Indyk and Muvija M in London; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala, Janane Venkatraman, Tomasz Janowski and Susan Fenton) (C) Reuters - 2026

LSEG in talks to buy Permira's Octus financial data group for about $3.5 billion. Posted on October 13, 2026 · Last updated: October 13, 2026 LSEG eyes $3.5 billion acquisition of Permira's Octus financial data group. London Stock Exchange Group in talks to acquire Octus. By Amy-Jo Crowley Acquisition discussions and market impact. LONDON, Oct 13 (Reuters) - The London Stock Exchange Group is in talks with private equity firm Permira to acquire Octus for about $3.5 billion, the London-listed group said Tuesday, confirming a Reuters report. No final agreement has been reached and no transaction is guaranteed, LSEG said, adding that the New York-headquartered financial data group has a strong track record of double-digit revenue growth based on a high-retention subscription model. LSEG shares, which had dipped more than 2% on the Reuters report earlier on Tuesday, extended losses to fall 4.7% by 1342 GMT. Strategic fit and revenue growth. "Octus' coverage and solutions are highly complementary to LSEG's existing fixed income data & analytics and private markets solutions," LSEG said, adding that a deal would be immediately accretive to LSEG's Data & Analytics and group revenue growth. Permira's involvement and Octus background. Permira's acquisition and sale plans. PERMIRA BOUGHT CONTROLLING STAKE IN OCTUS IN 2022 London-based Permira is working with advisers to evaluate interest in Octus, two people with knowledge of the situation said. Permira declined to comment. The private equity firm, which has been planning a sale of Octus since last year, has also held talks with other potential buyers, one of the people said. It acquired a controlling stake in Octus at a valuation of $1.3 billion from Warburg Pincus in 2022. Octus's business model and market position. Octus provides information on credit markets, with a focus on companies in financial distress, for banks and investors. It employs journalists, analysts and legal experts, using technology to scour regulatory and court filings. Trends in Data Analytics sector. A potential Octus transaction, if it went ahead, would mark a further uptick in dealmaking in the data analytics sector, despite a selloff in listed stocks earlier this year. YipitData, backed by investors including Carlyle Group, is exploring a sale that could value the data analytics provider at more than $2.5 billion, while Vista Equity Partners is exploring a sale of private markets data provider Allvue. LSEG's strategic context. Pressure from activist investors. LSEG has been under pressure to improve its performance from activist investor Elliott Management, which disclosed a stake in the exchange operator in February. Relationship with Reuters. LSEG is the largest customer of Reuters, which provides news for its Workspace news and data platform and other products. (Reporting by Amy-Jo Crowley in London; Additional reporting by Milana Vinn in New York and Tommy Reggiori Wilkes in London; Editing by Anousha Sakoui, Elisa Martinuzzi, Alexander Smith and Jan Harvey) Key takeaways. * LSEG confirmed discussions with Permira to purchase Octus for approximately $3.5 billion, but emphasized no deal is guaranteed yet. (investegate.co.uk) * Octus, based in New York, specializes in credit market intelligence - especially for distressed companies - and uses a subscription model with analytics, journalism, and legal expertise. (investegate.co.uk) * The acquisition would immediately boost LSEG's Data & Analytics division and overall group revenue, as Octus complements its fixed-income and private markets capabilities. (investegate.co.uk) * Permira acquired a controlling stake in Octus in August 2022 from Warburg Pincus - though exact valuation at that time isn't publicly detailed, it's estimated well below the current $3.5 billion possible deal. (mergr.com) * The move underscores ongoing high valuations for specialist data analytics firms - comparable deals include YipitData exploring a sale over $2.5 billion. (peinsights.substack.com) References. Frequently asked questions. Who is in talks to acquire Octus? How much is Octus valued at in the proposed deal? What does Octus specialize in? When did Permira acquire its stake in Octus? How would an Octus acquisition impact LSEG?

Announcing Hebbia's partnership with Octus. Hebbia now integrates with Octus, giving credit teams direct access to credit research, deal terms, and private company data. Hebbia has partnered with Octus, a leading provider of credit intelligence and data for leveraged finance and private credit markets. The partnership adds coverage that public filings do not reach to the filings, market data, and firm documents Hebbia customers already work from. How firms use Hebbia and Octus. Public filings only tell part of the story when you're assessing a company's credit quality. Octus fills that gap with expert reporting and legal analysis, private company financials and capital structures, covenant and restructuring data, deal documents, and court filings. In Hebbia, credit teams can combine Octus data with their own deal history and other market feeds. Customers are already using Octus data to compare a deal's covenant package with similar deals, catch new restructuring filings, build underwriting and investment materials, and more. The integration runs on the Octus MCP Connector(TM), which links every Octus product a firm subscribes to into Hebbia at once. Instead of searching each product separately, users ask one question and get an answer drawn from all of them, live and cited to the source. That makes research faster and more complete. "AI is only as powerful as the intelligence feeding it, particularly across the sub-investment grade credit universe. Integrating Octus into Hebbia grounds AI agents directly in proprietary credit intelligence and data produced by our nearly 300 financial analysts, legal analysts and expert journalists, as well as deal room documents and private company financials. Credit professionals get the deep, verified context they need directly inside their primary workflow," said Ben Kovacka, Head of Direct Data Services at Octus. Get in touch to bring Octus into your Hebbia workflows. Explore all Hebbia integrations, or tell Hebbia which one you'd like to see next.