S&P Drops $1.8B to Conquer the Final Frontier: Private Market Data
S&P GlobalDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → has announced the acquisition of With Intelligence, a leading private markets data and analytics company, for $1.8 billion. The deal is one of the most significant in the data sector this year and highlights the growing urgency among major financial information providers to gain ground in the rapidly expanding world of private markets. With Intelligence provides proprietary data and insights on alternative asset managers, investors, and funds — making it a highly valuable resource in a market that increasingly demands transparency and high-quality private asset data.
The valuation multiple of 13.8x forward revenue is steep, even higher than the 13x paid by BlackRock for Preqin in 2024, underscoring both the strategic value of With Intelligence and the scarcity of scaled, independent data platforms in this space. S&P reportedly moved aggressively after missing out on Preqin, signaling a long-term bet on subscription-driven intelligence in private markets. The company is willing to accept short-term earnings dilution, with the acquisition expected to be accretive by 2027.
This move follows S&P’s recent divestments, including its OSTTRA business and Mobility unit, which freed up billions in capital. With Intelligence has also been transformed in recent years by its private equity backers — ICG and Motive Partners — from a trade publishing and events company into a high-quality data platform. The shift toward recurring revenue and proprietary datasets made the firm a strategic gem, especially as S&P aims to boost its Capital IQ and AI capabilities.
For rivals like Bloomberg, FactSet, and LSEG, the pressure is now on. None of them currently offer the same level of integrated private market coverage, and this acquisition raises the stakes across the industry. At the same time, it reflects a broader trend: as AI and alternative assets reshape finance, the real value lies in owning the infrastructure that powers insight in private markets — a space once considered niche, now the new battleground for global data giants.
Source:
A.M.
