Distressed debt news service 9fin has raised $50 million

9fin, an information provider to corporate credit investors, has raised $50mn in financing, reports Sujeet Indap and Ivan Levingston of The Financial Times.

Indap and Levingston report, “9fin has nearly 250 employees, the majority in London and Belfast, and is expected to turn cash flow positive next year. The money from Highland Europe, a well-known software venture capital group, will be focused on expanding engineering and technology operations in the US, where its business is most quickly growing. Highland’s co-founder Fergal Mullen will join the board of 9fin, which has now raised nearly $90mn in funding since its inception.

“KKR, Carlyle and Mubadala were among the other parties that had expressed interest during the sales process.

“Like its direct competitors, including Reorg, Fitch and Debtwire, 9fin employs journalists as well as lawyers and financial analysts to break news and provide analysis on credit deals and market trends. Hunter said 9fin was formed primarily as a technology firm that would create better tools for collecting and processing vast amounts of market data.

“Debt information providers often sell their products for more than $100,000 a year per user, setting up a fight among the top players to become the industry standard.”

Read more here.