CRISIL Ltd, a unit of S&P Global Inc., said on Friday it will acquire US-based data and analytics company Greenwich Associates LLC and its six subsidiaries for $40 million (Rs 285 crore) in cash.
The acquisition will complement CRISIL’s existing portfolio of products and expand offerings to new segments across financial services including commercial banks and asset and wealth managers, the company said in a statement.
“With this acquisition, CRISIL will strengthen its position as the foremost global benchmarking analytics provider for financial services,” said Ashu Suyash, managing director and CEO at CRISIL.
Greenwich CEO Steven Busby said the two companies’ combined data and analytics will provide clients with high-value actionable insights they demand in today's competitive business environment.
Stamford, Connecticut-based Greenwich was set up in 1972. It provides proprietary benchmarking data, analytics and actionable insights that help financial services companies measure and improve business performance. It caters to more than 300 of the top investment banks, corporate banks, commercial banks and asset managers.
Greenwich’s partners and their team of about 150 people globally will join CRISIL when the deal completes. The company has six subsidiaries in the US, Singapore, the UK, Canada and Japan. It posted consolidated revenue of $49 million for the financial year 2017-18, up from $45 million the year before.
The acquisition is subject to regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions. The deal is likely to close in the first quarter of 2020.
Mumbai-based CRISIL provides a range of research and analytical services to its clients across segments. Some of these include corporate, financial sector and structured finance ratings, small and medium enterprise solutions, India and global research, and infrastructure advisory services.
This is not the first purchase that it has made to augment its product and services portfolio. In November 2017, the firm agreed to purchase data analytics company Pragmatix Services Pvt. Ltd. for up to Rs 56 crore. It said that the acquisition would help it enhance its business intelligence, risk management and analytics offerings for financial sector clients in India and overseas.
It had also acquired UK-based analytics firm Coalition Development Systems India Pvt. Ltd in June 2012 for roughly Rs 250 crore in cash. The acquisition marked CRISIL’s entry into proprietary research outside India.
Before that, another acquisition it made was that of the Chicago-headquartered Pipal Research Corporation, a knowledge process outsourcing firm, from Firstsource Solutions for $12.75 million.
