IHS将与Markit合并 IHS and Markit merge in $13bn all share deal

Data providers Markit and IHS are to combine in a $13bn stock deal to create a financial and corporate information powerhouse to challenge Bloomberg and Thomson Reuters.

数据提供商Markit和IHS将通过一宗130亿美元的换股交易实现合并，以打造出一家能挑战彭博(Bloomberg)和汤森路透(Thomson Reuters)的金融及企业信息巨擘。

The merger is the largest in a wave of takeover activity among market intelligence companies over the past two years, bringing together Markit’s proprietary credit market data with IHS, which is best known for its energy, commodity and transportation sector analysis.

这一合并是两年来的一波市场情报公司并购潮中最大的一宗，它将Markit专有的信用市场数据与IHS整合在一起，后者最为人所知的是其对能源、大宗商品及交通运输业的分析。

Shareholders in US-based IHS will own 57 per cent of the combined company, while investors in London-headquartered Markit will hold the reminder.

总部位于美国的IHS的股东，将持有合并后公司57%的股份；总部位于伦敦的Markit的股东，将持有剩余的股份。

It will also allow IHS to relocate its corporate tax base to the UK, in a politically controversially manouevre known as a tax inversion. A feature of the boom in mergers and acquisitions, the move allows a US company to capture a lower tax rate by using a takeover to move its domicile overseas.

这宗交易还使得IHS能将其公司税基挪到英国，这是一种被称为“税收倒置”(tax inversion)的存在政治争议的操作。作为并购潮中的一个特有现象，这一举措使得美国企业能利用收购来将其注册地迁至境外，从而享受更低的税率。

IHS said some operations would remain in Englewood, Colorado, where it is based, but added that its anticipated tax rate would be in the “low-to-mid 20 per cent range” after the deal.

IHS表示，其部分业务将留在其总部所在的美国科罗拉多州恩格尔伍德(Englewood)。不过，该公司补充说，交易完成后，其预期税率会在“20%到25%之间”。

“Markit is perfect for IHS. It’s not anchored to a specific desktop product in the way that Bloomberg or Reuters are, so it won’t be hit by the cost cuts taking place at banks,” said one person close to the deal.

一位了解该交易的人士表示：“对IHS来说，Markit是完美的并购对象。它不像彭博或路透那样绑定于具体的桌面产品，所以它不会受到银行眼下削减成本之举的冲击。”