S&P Global’s $39 Billion Deal Shows Market Data’s Dominance
- Global spending on market data rose more than 5% last year
- Combination would reduce S&P’s reliance on ratings business
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S&P Global Inc. grew out of a firm that provided bond ratings and railroad data. IHS Markit Ltd. traces its roots to a British barn and an effort to offer prices for the opaque world of credit derivatives.
Now, the second-biggest acquisition of 2020 will combine the two into a data Goliath that tracks everything from the price of wheat to the movements of hundreds of thousands of ships criss-crossing the world’s oceans.