Markit Acquires International Index Company, Agrees To Acquire CDS Indexco
Markit Group has acquired International Index Company (IIC) and has also agreed to acquire CDS IndexCo. Markit and CDS IndexCo expect the transaction to be complete by the end of the year. IIC owns the iTraxx Europe and iTraxx Asia credit derivative indices as well as the global family of iBoxx bond indices. CDS IndexCo owns the CDX credit derivative indices and the synthetic structured finance and loan indices ABX.HE, CMBX and LCDX. The iTraxx and CDX credit derivative index families resulted from the merger of dealer-owned indices in 2004. They aim to increase the transparency and liquidity of these markets, and provide investors with an efficient, rules-based tool to gain or hedge exposure to the underlying credit markets. IIC is owned by ABN AMRO, Barclays Capital, BNP Paribas, Deutsche Bank, Deutsche Börse, Dresdner Kleinwort, Goldman Sachs, HSBC, JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley and UBS. CDS IndexCo is owned by ABN AMRO, Bank of America, Barclays Capital, Bear Stearns, BNP Paribas, Citi, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, HSBC, JPMorgan, Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley, UBS, and Wachovia. Markit’s new index division will be headed by Stephan Flagel, who joined Markit in June this year from Barclays Capital where he was chief operating officer for global research. Flagel will report to Niall Cameron, a member of Markit’s executive management team and head of equities and indices. IIC was advised by Deutsche Bank in the transaction.