Credit ratings firm Moody’s announced Monday it had agreed to buy the Dutch financial information company Bureau van Dijk for $3.2 billion.
The acquisition will strengthen Moody’s position in risk data and analytical insight, Moody’s said in a statement.
Based in Amsterdam, Bureau van Dijk provides business intelligence services and maintains a dataset on more 220 million private companies around the globe. It is owned by the investment firm EWT and had revenues of $281 million in 2016.
Moody’s said the acquisition was subject to approval by European regulators and was expected to close in the third quarter of 2017.
Bureau van Dijk will join Moody’s existing research, data, and analytics unit, with the acquisition benefiting the parent company’s earnings as early as 2019.
In addition to its credit ratings business, Moody’s Corporation also operates Moody’s Analytics, which provides research on risk and financial modelling.
In February, Moody’s also bought the structured finance and analytics business of the Frankfurt-based SCDM.
Source: Mint