🤝 What's The Deal? - Asymmetrix Newsletter #53
Private Markets Data & Analytics remains a hot space, 6 months after BlackRock's acquisition of Preqin
This week our main item digs into With Intelligence’s acquisition of The Deal from Delinian - lots to unpack here.
And, rumours that Dun & Bradstreet’s owners are looking to sell the business have been circulating for many months. Last week news leaked that Veritas Capital are in talks to acquire the venerable Data & Analytics provider.
And we report a raft of acquisitions and investments, including Fugro’s acquisition of satellite imaging provider EOMAP, Worldpay’s acquisition of fraud prevention specialist Ravelin, and a $14.6m investment in trucking Data & Analytics platform GenLogs.
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📧 If we missed your deal, or you would like to talk, please email us at a.boden@asymmetrix.info.
🤝 Let’s Make a Deal
Last week, With Intelligence acquired The Deal from Delinian.
This seemingly innocuous transaction has so many interesting angles:
The Deal is a venerable player in the world of M&A Data & Analytics;
With Intelligence is a fast-growing player in Alternative Assets Data & Analytics;
The sale of assets from Delinian is on - and there are 12 assets left to go;
Six months on from BlackRock’s acquisition of Preqin, the Private Markets sub-sector remains hot.
What happened?
The Deal is the second M&A Data & Analytics business With Intelligence has acquired in the last three months: back in November they picked up Sutton Place Strategies (SPS) from Bain.
And since Motive Partners acquired a majority stake in July 2023, valuing the business at roughly GBP400m on projected EBITDA of £25m, With Intelligence has made four acquisitions.
Delinian, however, is on the opposite trajectory. When Epiris and Astorg took control of Euromoney in November 2023, they agreed to split Fastmarkets off from the rest of the group under Astorg’s control, and Epiris would take the rest, rebranding it as Delinian.
This separation took place in June 2023 and, according to the press release at the time, “Epiris’ strategy will be similar to that deployed at AXIO, an Epiris Fund I investment that returned a 5.1x gross multiple of invested capital.” In a nutshell, this means selling each of the assets in turn.
The Deal is Delinian’s fourth divestment so far, after selling Insurance Insider to ECI in November, and IJGlobal to Green Street and IMN to Informa in September. There are twelve assets remaining.
The Deal itself was founded at roughly the same time as With Intelligence, just before the millennium. In 2012 it was acquired by TheStreet for $5.8m, and bulked up with a range of bolt-ons.
In 2018, TheStreet sold The Deal and BoardEx to Euromoney for $87.5m. BoardEx will remain in Delinian as part of Altrata. The price With Intelligence paid for The Deal has not been disclosed.
Why it matters
The world really sat up and paid attention when BlackRock acquired Preqin in June last year for GBP2.55bn. That deal announced to the broader public that, as it covers one of the fastest growing areas in finance, Private Markets data is extremely valuable.
With Intelligence has been riding this wave for over 25 years now, but has really begun to accelerate in the last 10 years. The arrival of industry veteran and Bain heavyweight Graham Elton as Chairman to support CEO Charlie Kerr appears to have played an important role here, as has the impact of successive rounds of private equity ownership. With Intelligence has always been acquisitive, but The Deal reflects the increasing size of those transactions.
And, according to Delinian’s press release, “The Deal’s high-quality product and strong brand resonance – particularly with the US Middle-market – makes this an excellent fit for With Intelligence, who will expand their US market reach and platform depth with this acquisition.”
What happens next?
In our coverage of the Preqin transaction, we mentioned that we expected further activity in the sector as the losing bidders looked for alternative opportunities. Alongside companies such as Mergermarket (ION Group) and Pitchbook (Morningstar) we mentioned With Intelligence as a potentially attractive acquisition.
Their growth since then, both organic and inorganic, will only have served to make With Intelligence more attractive. We expect to see more acquisitions from With Intelligence as they continue to scale up.
As for Delinian, the future path is clear: businesses such as Legal Benchmarking, Derivia, Airfinance Global, Altrata, BCA Research and Euromoney will go under the hammer in the coming months.
M&A and Fundraising
Deal chatter
🏢 Veritas Capital is in talks to acquire Dun & Bradstreet
Dun & Bradstreet is a Jacksonville, Florida, USA-based business decisioning data and analytics, backed by THL, Cannae Holdings and CC Capital.
According to Bloomberg, Veritas Capital is in talks to acquire Dun & Bradstreet. Dun & Bradstreet is also considering separating its finance and risk unit from the sales and marketing business.
According to 9fin, Clearlake Capital is also looking at Dun & Bradstreet.
The deal under discussion would value Dun & Bradstreet at or around its current market capitalization of about $5.4bn.
Bank of America is advising Dun & Bradstreet.
Asymmetrix Sector: Company Data.
₿ Bullish Global considers IPO this year
Bullish Global is a digital asset exchange, backed by Founders Fund and Thiel Capital.
According to Bloomberg, Bullish is considering an IPO as soon as this year
Financial terms were not disclosed.
Bullish is being advised by Jefferies and JPMorgan.
Asymmetrix Sector: Crypto.
🚗 SoftBank-backed Carro preparing for $1bn IPO
Carro is a Singapore-based online used car platform, backed by SoftBank, Insignia Ventures Partners, Woori Venture Partners.
According to Deal Street Asia, Carro is preparing for an “imminent” IPO
The business will be valued at roughly $1bn.
Asymmetrix Sector: Automotive.
Announced M&A
🏞️ Fugro acquired EOMAP GmbH & Co. KG
Fugro, a Euronext-listed, Leidschendam, South Holland, Netherlands-based description, announced the acquisition of EOMAP GmbH & Co. KG, a private Seefeld, Tyrol, Austria-based provider of mapping and monitoring of marine and freshwater environments.
Financial terms were not disclosed.
Asymmetrix Sector: Environment.
🏢 Coface acquired Cedar Rose Group
Coface, a Euronext-listed, Paris, France-based credit insurer, announced the acquisition of Cedar Rose Group, a private, Limassol, Cyprus-based provider of business information solutions in the Middle East and Africa region.
Financial terms were not disclosed.
Asymmetrix Sector: Company Data.
🤝 With Intelligence acquired The Deal from Delinian
With Intelligence, a London, UK-based provider of investment intelligence for alternative assets, private markets and public funds, backed by Motive Partners, announced the acquisition of The Deal, a New York, New York, USA-based provider of intelligence, content and data covering M&A, Private Equity, Shareholder Activism and Restructuring, from Delinian, backed by Epiris.
Financial terms were not disclosed.
Delinian was advised by Cardean Bell; With Intelligence was advised by Plural Strategy.
Asymmetrix Sector: M&A.
🌏 ExtractAlpha acquired ESG Analytics
ExtractAlpha, a private Hong Kong-based investment data & analytics provider, announced the acquisition of ESG Analytics, a private Toronto, Ontario, Canada-based data provider tracking ESG practices.
Financial terms were not disclosed.
Asymmetrix Sector: ESG.
Worldpay, a Cincinnati, Ohio, USA-based payments technology and solutions provider, backed by GTCR and FIS, announced the acquisition of Ravelin, a London, UK-based fraud prevention platform, backed by Molten Ventures, Passion Capital, BlackFin Tech, Amadeus Capital Partners and Playfair.
Financial terms were not disclosed.
KeyBanc Capital Markets served as exclusive financial advisor to Ravelin. Wells Fargo and Citi served as advisors to Worldpay.
Asymmetrix Sector: Fraud.
⚓ Tidalis acquired Made Smart Group
Tidalis, an Apeldoorn, Gelderland, Netherlands-based provider of maritime software solutions, backed by Agilitas, announced the acquisition of Made Smart Group, a private, Amsterdam, Netherlands-based provider of information services for the global maritime industry.
Financial terms were not disclosed.
Asymmetrix Sector: Maritime.
Later-Stage / Growth funding
🔗 GenLogs
Arlington, VA, USA-based provider of a freight intelligence platform.
Raised $14.6m in funding led by Venrock and HOF Capital, with participation from Steel Atlas, AutoTech Ventures, Venture53, TitletownTech, Plug and Play Ventures, and Heartland Ventures.
Asymmetrix Sector: Supply Chain.
London, UK-based provider of AI-powered financial crime compliance solutions.
Raised an undisclosed amount of funding from Marlin Equity Partners.
Baird served as exclusive financial advisor to Napier AI. Torch Partners served as exclusive financial advisor to Marlin. John Greenland, Rowan Wright, and Adam Colley at Jamieson advised the management team of Napier AI.
Asymmetrix Sector: GRC.
⚖️ Semeris
London, UK-based legal data & analytics provider.
Raised $4.3m in funding from Puma Growth Partners.
Asymmetrix Sector: Legal.
Early-Stage
🔍 &AI
San Francisco, California, USA-based AI agent for patent attorneys.
Raised $6.5m in seed funding led by First Round Capital with participation from Y Combinator, SV Angel and BoxGroup.
Asymmetrix Sector: Intellectual Property.
🛒 Harmonya
New York, New York, USA-based product data provider.
Raised an undisclosed amount in funding from dunnhumby ventures and its existing investors, Bright Pixel Capital and Team8.
Asymmetrix Sector: Retail.
⚖️ Emma Legal
Antwerp, Belgium-based legal due diligence platform.
Raised EUR1.6m in funding from 6 Degrees Capital and Entourage Capital.
Asymmetrix Sector: Legal.
⚖️ Pandektes
Copenhagen, Denmark-based legal research provider.
Raised EUR2.9m in funding from People Ventures and Interface Capital.
Asymmetrix Sector: Legal.
San Diego, California, USA-based vehicle inspection provider.
Raised $3m in seed funding from Costanoa Ventures, DVx Ventures and Westlake Financial.
Asymmetrix Sector: Automotive.
🎯 GetWhys
Boise, Idaho, USA-based market research data provider.
Raised $2.75m in seed funding led by Next Frontier Capital, with participation from Tuesday Capital and Capital Eleven.
Asymmetrix Sector: Marketing.
🧾 TaxGPT
San Francisco, California, USA-based AI tax co-pilot.
Raised $4.6m in seed funding from Rebel Fund, Mangusta Capital, Y Combinator, Launch, iSeed Ventures, Converge Fund, TRAC AI/VC Unicorn Fund, Goodwater Genesis, CRV Disrupt Fund and Principal Venture Partners.
Asymmetrix Sector: Tax & Accounting.
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📧 If we have missed your deal, or you would like to talk, please email us at a.boden@asymmetrix.info.