Pearson, the publisher of Penguin books and the Financial Times, effectively put its majority-owned financial information subsidiary on the market this morning.
Interactive Data Corporation (IDC), 61 per cent-owned by the publishing group, has a market value of £1.5 billion ($2.4 billion) and is listed in New York.
The company said in a statement: “Pearson and Interactive Data Corporation are today confirming that the board of Interactive Data is currently undertaking a preliminary review of strategic alternatives for the company.”
Pearson added that it could give no assurances on the outcome of the review. Pearson’s stake in the company is valued at about $1.5 billion.
Analysts have suggested that it may prove attractive to other media groups with financial data operations, such as Bloomberg and Thomson Reuters.
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Private equity groups are also understood to have expressed interest in IDC, attracted by its relatively resilient performance through the recession.
Revenue rose 1.2 per cent to $563 million in the nine months to September 30 last year. Net income rose 5.5 per cent to $108 million.
Its core business is providing pricing information to financial institutions’ back offices, helping them to fulfil regulatory requirements on asset valuations.
IDC’s income does not depend on trading volumes or, as is the case for Bloomberg and Thomson Reuters, on the number of trading terminals sold and has proved relatively immune to the economic cycle.
Observers believe that this may make it attractive to more pro-cyclical financial information operators.