McGraw Hill acquires SNL Financial, publisher of newsletters

McGraw Hill Financial Inc. has reached a deal to buy SNL Financial LC, which publishes newsletters and other publications, for about $2.23 billion in cash, reports Telis Demos and Chelsey Dulaney of The Wall Street Journal.

SNL Financial, based in Charlottesville, Va., has nearly 260 business journalists working in its editorial operation, which publishes newsletters such as the SNL Insurance Daily and the Bank & Thrift Daily.

Demos and Dulaney write, “Financial-data firms have been bid up by investors as hedge funds and brokers increasingly use data-driven approaches to trading, and especially value proprietary data.

“Shares of McGraw Hill, which has a market value of about $29 billion, are up 125% over the past three years.

“The deal is one of several anticipated transactions in the sector. Financial-data and transactions giants First Data Corp. and SunGard recently filed for IPOs, and SunGard also has had suitors express interest in an acquisition, The Wall Street Journal has reported. TransUnion, the credit bureau, is up 10% since its IPO debut last month.

“SNL Financial was founded in 1987 by Reid Nagle, and moved to Charlottesville in 1989. It began covering thrifts, and acquired several other newsletters and data providers in other sectors and countries. New Mountain Capital LLC, a private-equity firm, acquired a roughly 60% stake in SNL Financial in 2011.”

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