NYSE Owner ICE Acquires IDC In USD5.2 Billion Deal

Today, IntercontinentalExchange Group announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire financial data company Interactive Data Corporation from private equity owners Silver Lake, the global leader in technology investing, and Warburg Pincus, a leading global private equity firm focused on growth investing. The agreement will have ICE purchase IDC for USD5.2 billion, which will entail USD3.65 billion in cash and USD1.55 billion worth of its own shares, the statement read. 

ICE Chairman and CEO Jeffrey Sprecher said about the acquisition, “With IDC as the cornerstone in the next phase of extending our services, we will build on our track record of solid execution on integration and innovation by focusing on the needs of our customers in the evolving data services marketplace.”

Bloomberg said both Warburg Pincus and Silver Lake considered going public for IDC as of last month. IDC, which was acquired by the firms for USD3.4 billion in 2010, filed for an initial public offering in July this year in confidentiality with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. It seems like certain events between July and October may have ushered Warburg Pincus and Silver Lake to sell IDC instead to ICE.