BC Partners to acquire Mergermarket from Pearson Plc

London, 29th November 2013 – Funds advised by BC Partners (“BC Partners”), an international private equity firm, have reached an agreement to acquire the leading financial information company The Mergermarket Group (“Mergermarket” or “the Company”) from Pearson Plc.

Mergermarket is a leading provider of global corporate financial news, intelligence and analysis to advisory firms, investments banks, law firms, hedge funds, private equity firms and corporations. The Company was founded in 1999, it has a presence in 65 countries worldwide and a product portfolio that includes brands such as Mergermarket, Debtwire, DealReporter, Infinata, Wealthmonitor, and Xtract Research.

Many of these products are subscription based news services, essential to customers given the unique and specialist nature of the information and analysis they contain. BC Partners plans to support Mergermarket’s continued growth, aiding in the development of its products and services, the expansion of its international customer base, as well as pursuing selective acquisition opportunities.

BC Partners’ recent previous investments in the business information and media sectors include Bureau van Dijk, a leading provider of business and financial information specialising in private companies, and Springer Science+Business Media, a leading publisher of business, academic, and scientific journals.

Nikos Stathopoulos, Managing Partner at BC Partners, said: "Mergermarket is a high quality company and a market leader with an attractive business model, strong growth, and loyal customers. We are pleased to partner with CEO Hamilton Matthews and the whole of the Mergermarket team to continue to invest in the growth of the business through product development and geographical expansion to deliver value and innovation to customers."

Hamilton Matthews, Mergermarket CEO, said: "I am delighted that we have found a new owner in BC Partners given their considerable experience in developing media and information businesses. They have an impressive track record in demonstrating how to drive sustained growth and improve the performance of the companies that they partner with. I am very excited about the new phase of Mergermarket – BC Partners will give us the investment and expertise to help us accelerate the business, maintain our innovation and optimise our product development."

John Fallon, Pearson’s Chief Executive, said: "Mergermarket is a world class financial information business, with a highly professional and talented team, and we wish them every future success. The company has flourished under Pearson's ownership but it is not part of Pearson's strategy in global education. The transaction provides us with additional financial capacity to accelerate our push into digital learning, educational services and emerging markets."

About BC Partners

BC Partners is a leading private equity firm with advised funds of €12.6 billion ($17.1 billion). Established in 1986, BC Partners has played an active role in developing the European buy-out market for 27 years. BC Partners executives operate as an integrated team through the firm’s offices in Europe and North America, acquiring and developing businesses to create value in partnership with management. Since inception, BC Partners has completed 83 investments in companies with a total enterprise value of €87 billion ($118 billion) and is currently investing its ninth fund, which was raised in 2011 with total commitments of €6.7 billion ($9.1 billion).