Must've missed the Black Friday deals... Data giant S&P Global is buying London-based IHS Markit for a mind-numbing $44B. Not only does IHS Markit take the cake for the worst company name of all time — it's also the priciest acquisition of 2020.
Are you a derivative?... Because I see you in my future. S&P wants to buy IHS to create a massive finfo force and reduce competition. But the deal still needs to be OK'd by regulators. BTW: data from companies like IHS and S&P trickles down to retail investors like us, too (in articles and financial reports).
Data is a competitive advantage... That's Wall Street's way of saying "knowledge is power." This mega-deal emphasizes the importance of big data for financial markets (and their info-obsessed financiers and trading algorithms). S&P Global stock is at an all-time high because investors know Wall Street is willing to pay up big for those insights.