S&P Global (NYSE: SPGI) and IHS Markit (NYSE: INFO) announced on Friday that they had received the green light from the European Commission (EC) after being granted a conditional Phase 1 approval for their $44 billion merger.
“The European Commission’s decision provides clarity on the steps we will need to implement to complete our combination. Once concluded, I expect the Merger of these two great businesses to accelerate innovation within our core services and generate exciting new opportunities that deliver on our capacity to power the markets of the future,” Douglas L. Peterson, President and Chief Executive Officer of S&P Global, commented in a press release.
The decision comes days after the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), a British antitrust agency, announced that it will approve S&P Global’s proposed merger with IHS Markit, provided certain concerns about price assessments are addressed. According to the CMA, the merger poses only limited competition concerns since the businesses of the two entities complement one another's offerings, and the combined presence of the two companies is relatively small in the markets where they are active.
“Our teams have been working closely with the relevant regulatory authorities to achieve this important milestone for our merger. Once combined, the new company will deliver a broader set of information and insights that will drive the growth and performance of our customers,” Lance Uggla, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of IHS Markit, stated on the matter.
Other Investments
Additionally, the firms have agreed to divest themselves of IHS Markit’s Oil Price Information Services (OPIS), Coal, Metals, and Mining (CMM), and PetroChem Wire (PCW) businesses, the press release noted.
IHS Markit primarily provides information, Analytics and solutions to business, finance and government clients, whereas S&P Global is a credit ratings, commodity price assessments, analytics, financial indices and market data supplier. It was announced last year that the two companies would merge their businesses as S&P Global made an all-stock offer of $44 billion to purchase IHS Markit.
