NEW
YORK, April 14, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- S&P
Global and CME Group today announced the signing of a definitive
agreement to sell OSTTRA, a leading provider of post-trade
solutions for the global OTC market, to investment funds managed by
KKR, a leading global investment firm. The terms of the deal
for OSTTRA equaled total enterprise value at $3.1 billion, subject to customary purchase price
adjustments, which will be divided evenly between S&P Global
and CME Group pursuant to their 50/50 joint venture.
Established in 2021 as a joint venture between CME Group and
S&P Global, OSTTRA serves the global financial ecosystem with a
comprehensive suite of critical post-trade offerings across
interest rates, FX, credit and equity asset classes. OSTTRA
provides end-to-end connectivity and workflow solutions to banks,
broker-dealers, asset managers, and other market participants
across trade processing, trade lifecycle, and optimization.
The OSTTRA management team, led by co-CEOs Guy Rowcliffe
and John Stewart, will continue to
lead the company in their current roles. KKR will support OSTTRA's
customer-centric growth and role as a critical market
infrastructure provider by increasing OSTTRA's investments in
technology and innovation across its leading post-trade solutions
platform.
"We are incredibly grateful for our partnership with CME Group
and S&P Global over the past several years and delighted to
have KKR's backing as we embark on this exciting new chapter for
OSTTRA," said Guy Rowcliffe and
John Stewart, co-CEOs of OSTTRA.
"With KKR's support, we will further accelerate our strategic
initiatives to enhance our market-leading post-trade solutions,
drive innovation, and expand our global footprint. Together, we
look forward to delivering even greater value to our customers and
helping them navigate the ever-evolving OTC landscape."
"We have long admired OSTTRA for its mission-critical solutions,
deep customer relationships, and strong market position, which we
believe provide a great foundation for future growth," said
Webster Chua, Partner at KKR. "We
look forward to working with the OSTTRA team and leveraging our
experience in the tech-enabled and financial services sectors to
help the company further innovate and drive value for its
customers."
"OSTTRA has generated significant growth over the past several
years, and we are pleased with the role our joint venture played in
driving the company forward," said CME Group Chairman and Chief
Executive Officer Terry Duffy.
"Looking ahead, as the post-trade marketplace continues to evolve,
we are confident that KKR will further scale this business and
extend the important efficiencies that OSTTRA delivers to
clients."
"We're thrilled about this next chapter for OSTTRA, which,
together with KKR, is ideally positioned to tackle today's complex
post-trade challenges and proactively meet future
operational demands," said John
Barneson, Chairman of the Board of OSTTRA and Head of
Enterprise Solutions at S&P Global Market Intelligence. "This
transaction reflects S&P Global's continued commitment to
active portfolio optimization in support of our strategy and to
fuel future growth."
KKR is making its investment in OSTTRA primarily through its
North American private equity strategy. Following the close of the
transaction, KKR will support OSTTRA in creating a broad-based
equity ownership program to provide all of the company's nearly
1,500 employees the opportunity to participate in the benefits of
ownership. This strategy is based on the belief that team member
engagement through ownership is a key driver in building stronger
companies. Since 2011, more than 60 KKR portfolio companies have
awarded billions of dollars of total equity value to over 150,000
non-senior management employees.
Further financial terms were not disclosed. The transaction is
expected to close in the second half of 2025, subject to customary
closing conditions and receipt of required regulatory
approvals.
Barclays and Davis Polk served as
financial and legal advisors, respectively, to S&P Global. Citi
and Skadden served as financial and legal advisors, respectively,
to CME Group. Goldman Sachs and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett
served as financial and legal advisors, respectively, to KKR.
Forward-Looking Statements:
This communication
contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the
Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, Section 27A of
the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. These forward-looking
statements, which are based on current expectations, estimates and
projections about future business and operating results, the
industry and markets in which each of S&P Global and CME Group
(each a "Company") operate and beliefs of and assumptions made by
each respective Company's management involve uncertainties that
could significantly affect the financial or operating results of
each respective Company. Words such as "expects," "anticipates,"
"intends," "plans," "believes," "seeks," "will, " "should," "may,"
"projects," "could," "would," "target," "estimates" or variations
of such words and other similar expressions are intended to
identify such forward-looking statements, which generally are not
historical in nature, but not all forward-looking statements
include such identifying words. These statements are not guarantees
of future performance and are subject to risks, uncertainties and
assumptions that could cause actual results to differ materially
from those expressed in such forward-looking statements. We can
give no assurance that our expectations will be attained and
therefore, actual outcomes and results may differ materially from
what is expressed or forecasted in such forward-looking statements.
For example, these forward-looking statements could be affected by
factors including, without limitation, risks associated with: (i)
the satisfaction of the conditions precedent to consummation of the
proposed divesture of OSTTRA, including the ability to secure
regulatory approvals on the terms expected, at all or in a timely
manner; (ii) economic, financial, political and regulatory
conditions, in the United States
and elsewhere, and other factors that contribute to uncertainty and
volatility, natural and man-made disasters, civil unrest,
pandemics, geopolitical uncertainty, and conditions that may result
from legislative, regulatory, trade and policy changes associated
with the current U.S. administration; (iii) the ability of each
respective Company to successfully recover from a disaster or
other business continuity problem due to a hurricane, flood,
earthquake, terrorist attack, war, pandemic, security breach,
cyber-attack, power loss, telecommunications failure or other
natural or man-made event; (iv) the outcome of any potential
litigation, government and regulatory proceedings, investigations
and inquiries; (v) changes in debt and equity markets, including
credit quality and spreads; (vi) changes in financial markets,
capital, credit and commodities markets and interest rates; (vii)
the possibility that the transaction may be more expensive to
complete than anticipated, including as a result of unexpected
factors or events; (viii) the parties' ability to meet expectations
regarding the accounting and tax treatments of the proposed
transaction; and (ix) those additional risks and factors discussed
in reports filed by each respective Company with the Securities and
Exchange Commission (the "SEC") from time to time. While the
list of factors presented here is considered representative, this
list should not be considered to be a complete statement of all
potential risks and uncertainties. Unlisted factors may present
significant additional obstacles to the realization of
forward-looking statements. Consequences of material differences in
results as compared with those anticipated in the forward-looking
statements could include, among other things, business disruption,
operational problems, financial loss, legal liability to third
parties and similar risks, any of which could have a material
adverse effect on each respective Company's consolidated financial
condition, results of operations, credit rating or liquidity.
Except to the extent required by applicable law or regulation, each
respective Company disclaims any duty to update any forward-looking
statements contained in this communication or to otherwise update
any of the above-referenced factors.
About OSTTRA
Formed in September 2021 as a
50/50 joint venture between CME Group's optimization businesses
(Traiana, TriOptima, and Reset) and S&P Global's middleware
business (MarkitSERV), OSTTRA has established itself as a critical
infrastructure provider in the post-trade space, processing over 80
million trades monthly.
About CME Group
As the world's leading derivatives marketplace, CME Group
(www.cmegroup.com) enables clients to trade futures, options, cash
and OTC markets, optimize portfolios, and analyze data – empowering
market participants worldwide to efficiently manage risk and
capture opportunities. CME Group exchanges offer the widest range
of global benchmark products across all major asset classes based
on interest rates, equity indexes, foreign
exchange, energy, agricultural
products and metals. The company offers futures and
options on futures trading through the CME
Globex platform, fixed income trading via BrokerTec and
foreign exchange trading on the EBS platform. In addition, it
operates one of the world's leading central counterparty clearing
providers, CME Clearing.
CME Group, the Globe logo, CME, Chicago Mercantile Exchange,
Globex, and E-mini are trademarks of Chicago Mercantile Exchange
Inc. CBOT and Chicago Board of Trade are trademarks
of Board of Trade of the City of Chicago, Inc. NYMEX, New York Mercantile
Exchange and ClearPort are trademarks of New York Mercantile
Exchange, Inc. COMEX is a trademark of Commodity Exchange,
Inc. BrokerTec is a trademark of BrokerTec Americas LLC and EBS is
a trademark of EBS Group LTD. The S&P 500 Index is a product of
S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC ("S&P DJI"). "S&P®", "S&P
500®", "SPY®", "SPX®", US 500 and The 500 are trademarks of
Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC; Dow Jones®, DJIA® and
Dow Jones Industrial Average are service and/or trademarks of Dow
Jones Trademark Holdings LLC. These trademarks have been licensed
for use by Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. Futures contracts based
on the S&P 500 Index are not sponsored, endorsed, marketed, or
promoted by S&P DJI, and S&P DJI makes no representation
regarding the advisability of investing in such products. All other
trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
About S&P Global
S&P Global (NYSE: SPGI) provides essential intelligence. We
enable governments, businesses and individuals with the right data,
expertise and connected technology so that they can make decisions
with conviction. From helping our customers assess new investments
to guiding them through sustainability and energy transition across
supply chains, we unlock new opportunities, solve challenges and
accelerate progress for the world.
We are widely sought after by many of the world's leading
organizations to provide credit ratings, benchmarks, analytics and
workflow solutions in the global capital, commodity and automotive
markets. With every one of our offerings, we help the world's
leading organizations plan for tomorrow, today.
S&P Global provides essential intelligence. We enable
governments, businesses, and individuals with the right data,
expertise, and connected technology to make informed decisions.
S&P Global is a leader in credit ratings, benchmarks,
analytics, and workflow solutions in the global capital, commodity,
and automotive markets.
About KKR
KKR is a leading global investment firm that offers alternative
asset management as well as capital markets and insurance
solutions. KKR aims to generate attractive investment returns by
following a patient and disciplined investment approach, employing
world-class people, and supporting growth in its portfolio
companies and communities. KKR sponsors investment funds that
invest in private equity, credit and real assets and has strategic
partners that manage hedge funds. KKR's insurance subsidiaries
offer retirement, life and reinsurance products under the
management of Global Atlantic Financial Group. References to KKR's
investments may include the activities of its sponsored funds and
insurance subsidiaries. For additional information about KKR &
Co. Inc. (NYSE: KKR), please visit KKR's website at www.kkr.com.
For additional information about Global Atlantic Financial Group,
please visit Global Atlantic Financial Group's website at
www.globalatlantic.com.
Media Contacts
CME Group
Laurie Bischel
laurie.bischel@cmegroup.com
Investor Relations
investors@cmegroup.com
S&P Global
Farhan Husain
farhan.husain@spglobal.com
Investor Relations
mark.grant@spglobal.com
KKR
Julia Kosygina or Lauren McCranie
media@kkr.com
CME-G
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SOURCE S&P Global; CME Group; KKR
