UK Watchdog May Accept S&P Global, IHS Markit Undertakings to Clear Deal
26 October 2021 - 10:45PM
Dow Jones News
By Ian Walker
The U.K. Competition and Markets Authority said Tuesday that the
undertakings provided by S&P Global Inc. and IHS Markit Ltd.
may satisfy its concerns over the deal and be accepted.
The regulator said last week that S&P Global's planned $44
billion acquisition of IHS Markit could harm competition within its
markets and that it was considering whether to accept undertakings
from the companies to address this.
S&P Global and IHS said on Oct. 19 that they had discussed a
number of divestiture options that they believed should satisfy the
U.K. regulator's concerns, and which they planned to formally
submit to the CMA.
They have already agreed to sell IHS Markit's Oil Price
Information Services; Coal, Metals and Mining; and PetroChem Wire
businesses to News Corp., the parent company of Dow Jones &
Co., publisher of the Wall Street Journal and Dow Jones Newswires,
subject to the relevant regulatory approvals.
The companies have also discussed with the CMA the possible sale
of IHS Markit's base chemicals business to address any remaining
concerns.
The CMA said it has until Dec. 30 to decide whether to accept
these undertakings.
On Friday, the European Commission conditionally approved the
deal. It said that the EU executive branch's approval was
conditional on the divestment of some of IHS Markit's
commodity-price assessment services and a number of S&P Global
businesses in the financial data and infrastructure area.
S&P Global in November last year agreed to acquire IHS
Markit, in a deal that would combine two of the largest providers
of data to Wall Street.
Write to Ian Walker at ian.walker@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
October 26, 2021 07:30 ET (11:30 GMT)
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