Get 40% Off
🤯 This Tech Portfolio is up 29% YTD! Join Now to Get April’s Top PicksGet The Picks – Just 99 USD

S&P Global, IHS win U.S. antitrust approval for $44 billion deal with conditions

Published 11/12/2021, 04:22 PM
Updated 11/12/2021, 09:46 PM
© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: The S&P Global logo is displayed on its offices in the financial district in New York City, U.S., December 13, 2018. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo

© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: The S&P Global logo is displayed on its offices in the financial district in New York City, U.S., December 13, 2018. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo

By Diane Bartz

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Business information provider S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI) Inc and IHS Markit Ltd have won U.S. antitrust approval for their planned merger, on condition it sell some businesses and scrap a non-compete agreement with GasBuddy, the Justice Department said in a statement.

The $44 billion deal was initially announced in November 2020.

To win approval for the deal, the companies agreed to sell three of IHS Markit's price reporting agency (PRA) businesses. The department said the businesses are: Oil Price Information Services (OPIS); Coals, Metals, and Mining (CMM); and PetrochemWire (PCW).

The businesses will be bought by News Corp (NASDAQ:NWSA) under a $1.15 billion deal reached in August.

In a court filing, the Justice Department said that S&P Global and IHS are a small number of companies that provide PRA services and "compete vigorously in each of the relevant markets, resulting in lower prices and increased quality and innovation for PRA customers."

One of them, OPIS, collects and sells information related to U.S. retail gasoline prices. GasBuddy has been one of OPIS' main sources of data since 2009. Since 2016, OPIS has had exclusive rights to GasBuddy's data for 20 years.

Because of the agreement, GasBuddy, which uses crowdsourced information to help people find deals on retail gasoline, has been stopped from creating a service to compete with OPIS, the department said.

"The divestitures will preserve competition for PRA (price reporting agency) services, which are vital to the proper functioning of commodity markets and promote transparency in the financial markets," Richard Powers, acting head of the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division, said in a statement.

© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: The S&P Global logo is displayed on its offices in the financial district in New York City, U.S., December 13, 2018. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo

GasBuddy parent company PDI praised the Justice Department settlement and said "once the waiver clears, we look forward to providing petroleum marketers and wholesalers with a compelling pricing solution, through the 1 million retail fuel price submissions provided by GasBuddies on a daily basis."

The deal won EU antitrust approval in October, with some of the same conditions.

Latest comments

Risk Disclosure: Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.
© 2007-2024 - Fusion Media Limited. All Rights Reserved.