S&P Global, IHS Markit to Sell Businesses Ahead of Merger

S&P Global and IHS Markit said late last year that S&P would acquire IHS Markit for about $44 billion in an all-stock transaction. Regulators’ concerns about the deal’s competitive effects have led the companies to pledge to divest some of their businesses.

The Cusip business that FactSet plans to buy helps investors track their holdings by assigning ID numbers to securities. Cusip Global Services manages the system on behalf of the American Bankers Association.

News Corp’s acquisition of IHS Markit’s Base Chemicals business will see the media company adding a service that provides data and analytics for chemicals markets. Earlier this year, News Corp agreed to buy IHS Markit’s oil-price information service for $1.15 billion, another IHS Markit divestiture aimed at fulfilling regulatory requirements of the S&P merger.

News Corp is the parent company of Dow Jones & Co., which publishes The Wall Street Journal.

S&P and IHS Markit say they expect the merger to close in the first quarter of next year. Regulators in the U.S. and abroad are tracking divestments such as the ones the companies announced Monday ahead of giving the merger their final approval, the companies said.

In another move to satisfy regulatory requirements, S&P said it plans to sell its leveraged commentary and data business. That transaction could occur after the combination with IHS Markit closes, per the European Commission’s conditional approval of the merger, S&P said.

Write to Matt Grossman at [email protected]