The group will become part of Dow Jones’ Professional Information Business, forming an energy, chemicals and renewables vertical alongside OPIS.
The agreement was reached following the UK Competition and Markets Authority request that IHS Markit divest Base Chemicals as part of the S&P Global and IHS Markit merger plans.
Base Chemicals is known for its pricing data, insights, analysis and forecasting on the base chemicals market. Its main products include Market Advisory Services, which provide pricing, insights and weekly/monthly reports; and World Analysis, which produces annual reports and maintains a database of trends and long-term forecasts.
NewsCorp believes Base Chemicals has significant growth potential, particularly as demand changes and new products emerge as the world transitions to renewable energy sources in the years ahead.
“We are delighted with the opportunistic acquisition of Base Chemicals, which complements our purchase of OPIS, and will certainly strengthen the highly profitable and decidedly digital Professional Information Business at Dow Jones,” said News Corp’s Chief Executive Robert Thomson. “From setting price benchmarks for chemicals, to tracking renewables and monitoring resource trends that impact most companies, we expect the incomparable intelligence of Base Chemicals, combined with the news and analysis of Dow Jones, will be formidable and lucrative.”
“Base Chemicals will help Dow Jones expand the reach of our information services to new professional users and industries,” said Almar Latour, CEO of Dow Jones and Publisher of The Wall Street Journal. “It will bolster our data and price expertise, adding valuable analysis and forecasting capabilities. Along with the strength of The Wall Street Journal, Barron’s, MarketWatch, Investor’s Business Daily, Dow Jones Newswires and Factiva, we believe Base Chemicals and OPIS will help Dow Jones customers navigate key issues of our time, including the ongoing transition to sustainability.”
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