LSEG Agrees to Acquire Octus for $3.535 Billion in Cash

LSEG (London Stock Exchange Group (LS4C.DE )) announced on October 22, 2026 that it has agreed to acquire Octus, a provider of credit intelligence, data and workflow tools, for a cash consideration of $3.535 billion from funds advised by Permira and from Octus’ management, including founder Kent Collier. The transaction is expected to close in the first half of 2027, subject to regulatory approval, and will be financed by external debt, according to LSEG’s announcement.

Upon completion, Octus will become part of LSEG’s Data & Analytics division. Collier, Octus’ founder and chief executive, will continue to run the Octus businesses, reporting to Gianluca Biagini and Ron Lefferts, co-heads of Data & Analytics.

Morgan Stanley (MS ) & Co. International plc is acting as lead financial adviser and Barclays Capital Inc. as financial adviser to LSEG, while Evercore and Goldman Sachs (GS ) & Co. LLC are acting as financial advisers to Octus’ shareholders.

Founded in 2013 by Collier and headquartered in New York City, Octus provides credit intelligence, data and analytics across private, illiquid and distressed credit. The company has more than 900 employees, 750 customers and over 40,000 individual users, including buy-side firms, investment banks, law firms and advisory firms.

Octus’ proprietary data covers the full credit lifecycle, according to LSEG. Its teams source hard-to-access credit documentation, including covenants and deal terms, and turn it into structured, searchable data that is integrated into purpose-built workflow and portfolio management tools. Customers connect to the data directly through Octus’ platform, an MCP connector or AI workflows.

LSEG stated that in 2026 Octus is expected to generate more than $300 million in revenue, with strong double-digit growth and an adjusted EBITDA margin of around 40%, and that the company has achieved double-digit compound revenue growth since 2022.

LSEG said Octus’ product set and customer coverage are highly complementary to its existing fixed income products, noting its existing presence in liquid credit through news (IFR), evaluated pricing and corporate actions, and analytics (Yield Book and LPC). Octus brings specialism in illiquid and private credit along with a strong buy-side customer footprint, particularly among hedge funds and alternative investment managers, a segment where LSEG said it has historically been under-penetrated.

The group stated that public and private credit markets are converging and that the private credit industry has grown to an estimated size of $3.5 trillion. LSEG put the private markets data, workflow and access solutions served market segment at $7 billion to $9 billion currently and said it is expected to grow at a double-digit rate. The group said it plans to develop enhanced products combining Octus’ proprietary content with Workspace, LPC, Yield Book, PRS and Tradeweb, and that alongside Tradeweb’s planned acquisition of Trumid it is creating a global leader in fixed income and credit.

“Combining Octus’ leading proprietary data and intelligence with LSEG’s data and analytics business creates a powerful offering for our customers, and further accelerates our growth,” said David Schwimmer, LSEG’s chief executive. “Acquiring Octus enables LSEG to deliver best-in-class credit data, intelligence and workflows, across the liquidity spectrum, to a broader range of customers.”

Financial Effects and Leverage

LSEG stated the transaction is expected to be immediately accretive to Data & Analytics organic revenue growth and additive to its guidance for group organic subscription revenue growth of around 7% in 2027. Because of Octus’ margin profile and operating leverage, there is no change to LSEG’s medium-term guidance for underlying EBITDA margin to increase by a cumulative approximately 150 basis points over 2027 to 2029 from the 2026 baseline, the group said. The transaction will be neutral to Adjusted EPS in the first full year after completion and accretive thereafter.

Allowing for forecast cash flow, completion of its current £3 billion share buyback programme by February 2027, completion of both the Octus and Trumid acquisitions, and capacity for further share buybacks of £1 billion to £1.5 billion, LSEG said it expects leverage at the end of 2027 to be around the upper end of its 1.5x to 2.5x target range, before returning to the middle of the range by the end of 2028.

Schwimmer and Michel-Alain Proch, LSEG’s chief financial officer, were scheduled to host a conference call for analysts and investors at 10:00 a.m. UK time on October 22, 2026 covering LSEG’s third-quarter 2026 trading update and the acquisitions.

Sale by Permira Funds

Permira, the global investment firm, separately announced the full realisation of the Permira Funds’ investment in Octus Intelligence, Inc. through the all-cash sale, which its statement said values Octus at $3.535 billion. Permira said the Permira Funds acquired Octus in 2022, partnering with Collier and the management team, and that over the roughly four-year hold Octus more than tripled ARR while nearly doubling the number of products sold into the credit markets, including through the acquisitions of FinDox, Sky Road and LevPro. Octus today serves more than 40,000 subscribers globally, according to Permira.

Permira stated that in 2026 to date the Octus platform executed more than four million automated classifications, one million structured data extractions and more than 250,000 content summary generations. The firm said the sale marks the Permira Funds’ sixth strategic exit of 2026 and continues what it described as a record period of realisations, with $13 billion distributed to investors over the last 12 months.

“Permira has been a true partner through a transformational period for Octus,” Collier said in the Permira statement. He said Permira’s technology expertise and support helped Octus expand its product portfolio, both organically and inorganically, and that Octus’ AI strategy and offerings accelerated under Permira’s ownership.

Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP and McDermott Will & Schulte LLP acted as legal advisors to Permira and Octus, while Kleinberg, Kaplan, Wolff & Cohen, P.C. and Moulton Moore Stella LLP acted as legal advisors to Collier and the Octus management team. Permira said the transaction is subject to customary regulatory approvals and conditions.

The agreement follows LSEG’s confirmation on October 13, 2026, issued in response to press speculation, that it was in discussions with Permira regarding the purchase of Octus for approximately $3.5 billion. LSEG said at that time that no final agreement had been reached and that no transaction was guaranteed.