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Firms including Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala Capital and private equity giant KKR have held talks to invest in UK corporate debt research start-up 9fin, in a deal that would value the privately held company at around $500mn, according to people familiar with the matter.
An investment would mark the latest in a flurry of high-profile transactions for businesses that provide information on niche areas of financial markets.
No final agreement has been reached and may be weeks away, said the people. Other suitors had also been part of the stake sale process. 9fin, Mubadala Capital and KKR declined to comment.
9fin was founded in 2016 in London by former JPMorgan banker Steven Hunter and Huss El-Sheikh, who previously worked for Deutsche Bank. It employs journalists who break news about leveraged finance deals as well as former deal lawyers and financial analysts who write analysis on investment opportunities.
9fin and rivals such as Debtwire and Reorg have also invested heavily in engineers to build software and AI products that organise and summarise financial and legal filings.
Annual subscriptions to such services can run into tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars, and private capital investors have been attracted to the recurring revenues paid by hedge funds, law firms and investment bankers who rely on the news, data and analysis.
The company has roughly $25mn in annual recurring revenue though it remains unprofitable as it invests in new staff and technology.
It has more than 200 employees in London and New York, many of whom previously worked for large financial services firms or well-known media organisations and law firms.
9fin raised $23mn in a previous financing round in 2022 led by Spark Capital.
The proposed investment would come after New York-based Reorg, considered the market leader, sold a majority stake to Permira in 2022 at a $1.3bn valuation. Reorg recently changed its name to Octus to emphasise its broader offering beyond bankruptcy coverage and market participants say it could be put up for sale by its private equity owner in 2025.
BlackRock agreed to buy Preqin, a UK private markets data group, for £2.55bn in July, a first foray into financial information provision for the world’s biggest asset manager.
In 2022, Morningstar acquired Leveraged Commentary and Data (LCD) for $600mn. CreditSights was acquired by Fitch in 2021 for an undisclosed price.