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Markets EdgeHENRI IVApril 15, 20262 min readAd-free
S&P Global Pays $1.8 Billion for With Intelligence in Private Markets Data Push
Motive Partners exits after three years as S&P pivots terminal strategy toward alternatives intelligence.
Markets Edge deskMarkets Edge · Huang GoodmanSource: S&P Global ↗
S&P Global$SPGI · filed: grew revenue 7.9% in FY2025 to $15.3BNew shipTrillion Score 506Fall Risk LowNext year $14.5B–$18.2B sealedCheck ▾Close ▴
What S&P Global filed
Grew revenue 7.9% in FY2025 to $15.3 billion, operating margin 42.2% against a 4.8% median for consumer credit reporting, collection agencies, equity 50.9% of assets, and dividend per share up 18 years running. Every figure links to the filing it came from on S&P Global’s card. New ship: no warning signs. Trillion Score 506, #6 of 12 in its field; Fall Risk Low (how it is measured).
What the house said in advance
Revenue for the fiscal year after 2025-12-31 between $14.5B and $18.2B, an 80% range sealed on 26 Sept 2026 · receipt #5e6de8 · graded in public by the revenue in S&P Global’s next annual report.
Figures as filed with the SEC. Ranges, scores and boats are statistical descriptions of past filings, not ratings or recommendations. Reporting, not advice.
In plain words
S&P Global enters the **$13 trillion** private markets intelligence layer with **40,000** institutional subscribers and a clear bundling path into family offices.
$1.8 billion
in cash
40,000
institutional subscribers across hedge funds
$200 million
at an implied
12
platforms cover real estate debt
S&P Global acquired With Intelligence from Motive Partners for $1.8 billion in cash, marking the data giant's largest move into private markets intelligence infrastructure. The deal delivers S&P a network of 40,000 institutional subscribers across hedge funds, private equity, and credit, with annual revenue near $200 million at an implied 9x multiple.
With Intelligence built vertical-specific intelligence products for allocators who never open a Bloomberg terminal. The firm's 12 platforms cover real estate debt, infrastructure equity, private credit structuring, and CLO analytics—workflows that live outside traditional market data pipes. Motive Partners, which backed a management buyout in 2021, returns roughly 2.8x on deployed capital in under three years. The London-based intelligence provider employs 850 staff, most in editorial and product development, with zero overlap to S&P's existing Ratings or Indices divisions.
This acquisition answers a structural problem for S&P. The firm generates $11 billion annually from ratings, indices, and Platts energy data, but lacked native tooling for the $13 trillion private markets complex. With Intelligence's subscriber base skews toward firms managing $500 million to $5 billion—precisely the segment underserved by Capital IQ's enterprise pricing. The deal positions S&P to bundle private markets intel with its existing credit and index franchises, creating cross-sell leverage into family offices and emerging managers who need both public comps and private deal flow visibility. Motive Partners' exit timing reflects private equity's narrowing window to monetize B2B information assets before AI-native competitors compress margins. S&P pays for distribution and editorial moats, not technology.
Allocators should track S&P's integration playbook over the next 18 months. If the firm embeds With Intelligence data into Capital IQ or creates bundled subscription tiers, it signals a land-grab for the $2 billion private markets data segment that PitchBook and Preqin currently split. Family offices running hybrid public-private books may see pricing pressure as S&P leverages scale. Operators at mid-market GPs should watch for product updates in Q2 2025—S&P will likely push deeper verticalization in secondaries and continuation funds, areas where With Intelligence had nascent offerings.
The deal closes in Q3 2025, subject to standard regulatory clearance. S&P funds the purchase from existing credit facilities and expects $30 million in annual cost synergies by 2027, mostly from shared technology infrastructure and London office consolidation.
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For the principal
If your office uses Capital IQ and separate private markets research, expect bundled pricing offers by mid-2025 as S&P cross-sells the stack.
For the operator
Watch S&P's Q2 2025 product roadmap for deeper private credit and secondaries tooling that could compress third-party data budgets at emerging managers.
For the house
Long SPGI synthetically via LEAPs—this acquisition telegraphs margin expansion into higher-touch intelligence subscriptions with enterprise lock-in characteristics.
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