Full credit to 9fin - Asymmetrix Newsletter #46

Plenty of interest in the Data & Analytics sector in the run up to year end.

Dec 09, 2024

Almost as soon as we published last week’s newsletter we saw that 9fin’s $50m funding round, trailed in early November, would be announced later that day. So we wanted to investigate this in more detail in this week’s insight.

However, the Advertising and Marketing Data & Analytics sectors have been extremely active this week. News leaked yesterday of an advanced $30bn merger deal between Omnicom and Interpublic. Interpublic also announced their acquisition of Intelligence Node for roughly $100m. And Experian purchased Audigent for a rumoured $200-250m.

In other news, Healthcare Data & Analytics, Merative and Zelis both received funding, as did Legal players Lawhive and Wexler.

And many, many more deals. Once again the newsletter is too long to read in your email, so please click through to read to the end, including the addition this week of a new Partnerships section, alongside an expanded C-Suite changes section.

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9fin nowhere near maxed out

A month after the Financial Times originally leaked the news that Debt Capital Markets Data & Analytics provider 9fin were in talks to raise money, the FT brought us an update on Monday morning last week.

This time they announced that the round was about to close, but without some of the big names they had trailed back in October.

a computer screen with a red line on it — Photo by m. on Unsplash

What happened?

9fin announced at around midday London-time last Monday that they had raised $50m in Series B funding. The round was led by Highland Europe, with participation from existing investors Spark Capital, Redalpine, Seedcamp, 500 Startups and Ilavska Vuillermoz Capital.

Interestingly, the larger capital providers who had been mentioned before - KKR, Carlyle and Mubadala - were not involved in the round.

The consensus media view is that 9fin was valued at around $500m, on roughly $25m of ARR.

Why it matters

Data & Analytics for Debt Capital Markets is a currently a relatively open field. Unlike Alternative Assets, where Preqin rules the roost, there is a comparatively wide range of providers selling debt information.

9fin entered the market in 2016, and have grown from their initial focus of helping financial analysts to extract data from covenant documents into an end-to-end debt market intelligence provider.

Asymmetrix’s conversations with 9fin’s clients reveals that alongside their breadth of coverage, 9fin provides high value insights into debt deals much faster than their competitors. This makes their product must have for DCM participants.

As a consequence, 9fin are in a strong negotiating position when it comes to contract renewal time, and are able to push their prices up dramatically each year.

What happens next?

It seems unlikely that 9fin will use the funds raised to acquire smaller players in the market in the short term. Instead they will likely continue their strategy of expanding across the debt market. To date they cover high-yield bonds, leveraged loans, distressed debt, CLOs, private credit and asset-backed finance.

Might 9fin be acquired in turn? It’s a possibility. After all, their investors will be seeking a return on investment. And there is precedent in the market for the large Data & Analytics providers to buy smaller DCM players.

In June 2022, Morningstar purchased Leveraged Commentary & Data (LCD) from S&P Global. And Fitch have hoovered up both CreditSights and Fulcrum (home of Covenant Review).

Permira-backed Reorg and ION Analytics’s Debtwire are 9fin’s most direct competitors, and might be concerned that an acquisition of 9fin would cannibalise revenues. Consolidation with BlackRock-backed Preqin or the giant that is Bloomberg might make more sense.

But it seems more likely that 9fin will fend off takeover advances for a while longer and grow into a multi-billion dollar valuation before selling. Or just maybe they will go a step further by not selling and becoming a Data & Analytics giant in their own right.

M&A and Fundraising

📢 Omnicom and Interpublic in merger talks to become largest advertising group.

Omnicom is a NYSE-listed New York, NY, USA-based provider of data-inspired, creative marketing and sales solutions.
Interpublic is a NYSE-listed New York, NY, USA-based provider of marketing solutions.
According to the Financial Times, the the two advertising giants are in talks to become the world’s largest ad agency. The two businesses both own Data & Analytics subsidiaries (e.g. Flywheel by Omnicom, Acxiom by Interpublic).
The combined entity would be worth more than $30bn.
Asymmetrix Sector: Advertising

📢 Canaccord Genuity mandated to sell Channel Factory

Channel Factory is a City of Industry, California, USA-based brand suitability data provider, backed by Tribe Capital, block.one and Zfounder.
According to Digiday, Cannacord Genuity has been mandated to sell Channel Factory, and the process is well advanced.
Channel Factory’s EBITDA is c.$20-$25m.
Valuation is rumoured to be $300-400m, representing c.12-14x EBITDA.
Cannacord Genuity has the sellside mandate.
Asymmetrix Sector: Advertising

🎯 Ipsos will not submit an offer for the acquisition of Kantar Media

Ipsos is a Euronext-listed, Paris, France-based market research and polling company.
Kantar Media is a London, UK-based provider of data and audience measurement, targeting, analytics and advertising intelligence services, backed by Bain Capital and WPP.
Ipsos issued a press release in response to media speculation that they would bid for Kantar Media, stating that “after careful review of a potential acquisition of Kantar Media, Ipsos has, at this time, decided not to submit a binding offer.“
Media articles have estimated Kantar Media to be worth between $1.34bn and $2bn.
Kantar Media has EBITDA of roughly USD120m.
Cinven, CVC, Triton Partners have also been rumoured to be participating in the auction process.
JP Morgan and Jefferies are advising the shareholders of Kantar Media.
Asymmetrix Sector: Advertising.

Announced M&A

🛒 Interpublic Group acquired Intelligence Node.

Interpublic Group, a NYSE-listed, New York, NY, USA-based provider of marketing solutions, announced the acquisition of Intelligence Node, a Mumbai, Maharashtra, India-based retail analytics firm, backed by Orios Venture Partners, New Enterprise Associates, MegaDelta Capital, Cornerstone Venture Partners and Calibre Ventures.
Financial terms were not disclosed, but the valuation is rumoured to be nearly $100m.
Intelligence Node was advised by EY.
Asymmetrix Sector: Ecommerce.

📢 Experian plc acquired Audigent.

Experian, a FTSE-listed Dublin, Ireland-based fraud, healthcare and digital marketing solutions provider, announced the acquisition of Audigent, a New York, NY, USA-based data activation and identity platform in the advertising industry, backed by RiverPark Ventures, Raised in Space Enterprises, Lauder Partners, GoPhillyFund, Flucas Ventures, Broadscale and AperiamVentures.
Financial terms were not disclosed, but the valuation is rumoured to be between $200-250m.
Asymmetrix Sector: Advertising.

🎯 Norstat acquired PFM Research.

Norstat, an Oslo, Norway-based European data collector for market research, backed by Nalka, announced the acquisition of PFM Research, a private, Halmstad, Sweden-based data collector for market research.
Financial terms were not disclosed.
PFM has turnover of SEK44m.
Asymmetrix Sector: Market Research.

📈 Castine acquired ResearchPool.

Castine, a Ridgewood, NJ, USA-based, privately-owned provider of investment management and broker solutions, announced the acquisition of ResearchPool, a Paris, France-based research aggregation portal, backed by Bridgeastern.
Financial terms were not disclosed.
Asymmetrix Sector: Investment Management.

📈 Vitec Software Group AB acquired Figlo.

Vitec Software Group AB, a Nasdaq Stockholm-listed Umeå, Sweden-based provider of vertical software, announced the acquisition of Figlo, a Capelle aan den Ijssel, Zuid-Holland, Netherlands-based provider of software for financial planning and mortgage calculations for the Netherlands market, from Investcloud.
Financial terms were not disclosed.
Figlo reported revenue of €4.3 million for FY23.
Asymmetrix Sector: Investment Management.

👠 Luxurynsight Group acquired Heuritech.

Luxurynsight Group, a Paris, France-based provider of luxury, fashion and beauty Data & Analytics, backed by Tandem Partners, announced the acquisition of Heuritech, a Paris, France-based provider of visual recognition technology and forecasting model for fashion brands, backed by Elaia and Serena investment funds.
Financial terms were not disclosed.
Asymmetrix Sector: Retail.

📈 Amedia acquired Berlingske Media from DPG Media.

Amedia, an Oslo, Norway-based, foundation-owned publisher of editorial media, announced the acquisition of Berlingske Media, a Copenhagen, Denmark-based media company, from DPG Media, an Antwerp, Belgium-based media company.
Financial terms were not disclosed.
Asymmetrix Sector: Financial.

Later-Stage / Growth funding

👩‍⚕️ Zelis

Boston, MA, USA-based provider of healthcare technology.
Sold a minority stake in the company to a group of investors, led by Mubadala Investment Company and including Norwest and HarbourVest. Parthenon and Bain Capital remain the majority owners of Zelis.
Financial terms were not disclosed, but the valuation is rumoured to be $17bn.
Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC and J.P. Morgan Securities LLC advised Zelis. Evercore advised Mubadala.
Asymmetrix Sector: Healthcare.

👩‍⚕️ Merative

Ann Arbor, MI, USA-based provider of health analytics, backed by Francisco Partners.
Raised $25m in funding from Morgan Health.
Asymmetrix Sector: Healthcare.

🪙 9fin

London, UK-based information provider to corporate credit investors.
Raised $50m in funding led by Highland Europe with participation from existing investors Spark Capital, Redalpine, Seedcamp, 500 Startups and Ilavska Vuillermoz Capital.
The valuation is rumoured to be $500m.
Asymmetrix Sector: Financial.

⚖️ Lawhive

London, UK-based gateway to legal help.
Raised $40m in funding co-led by existing investor GV and TQ Ventures, with participation from Balderton Capital, Jigsaw and Episode 1.
Asymmetrix Sector: Legal.

🌳 Carbmee

Berlin, Germany-based carbon management software provider.
Raised EUR20m in funding from CommerzVentures and Fly Ventures.
Asymmetrix Sector: ESG.

🎯 Bounce Insights

Dublin, Ireland-based consumer insights platform.
Raised $4.5m in funding from Act Venture Capital.
Asymmetrix Sector: Marketing.

Early-Stage funding

🩺 Offcall

San Francisco, CA, USA-based physician compensation data platform.
Raised $2m in funding from Bloomberg Beta and Roar Ventures.
Asymmetrix Sector: Healthcare.

💻 Stackfix

London, UK-based provider of an AI-powered software comparison platform.
Raised $3m in funding led by Chalfen Ventures with participation from Seedcamp and helloworld.
Asymmetrix Sector: Technology.

📈 Synthera

London, UK-based provider of synthetic financial data.
Raised EUR1.7m in funding led by Motive Ventures, including Entrepreneur First, Transpose Platform, KDX, BuenTrip Ventures, Robin Capital, and Angel Invest.
Asymmetrix Sector: Financial.

⚖️ Wexler

London, UK-based legal fact intelligence platform.
Raised $1.4m in funding led by Myriad Venture Partners, with support from Entrepreneur First and angel investors.
Asymmetrix Sector: Legal.