LSEG to Buy Credit Data Firm Octus for $3.5 Billion in Its Biggest Deal Since Refinitiv

London Stock Exchange Group has agreed to buy credit intelligence provider Octus from private equity firm Permira for about $3.5 billion in cash, marking LSEG's largest acquisition since it bought Refinitiv in 2019. The deal extends LSEG's push into faster-growing corners of finance, particularly data and analytics tied to private markets.

Filling a gap in credit data

Octus supplies credit intelligence, data and workflow tools to buy-side firms, investment banks, law firms and advisory firms — a business LSEG describes as highly complementary to its existing fixed-income data and private-markets offerings. The company expects Octus to generate more than $300 million in revenue in 2026 and to be earnings-neutral in its first year, with the deal expected to close in the first half of 2027.

The announcement came alongside LSEG's third-quarter results, in which income rose 8.8% and the company raised its 2026 guidance. The acquisition and the stronger outlook come as LSEG's stock has faced pressure from broader investor jitters about AI's potential to disrupt financial data and analytics businesses, a worry LSEG's deal-making signals it intends to address by expanding rather than retreating.