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UK/US: Markit unveils $13bn all-share merger with IHS

By  |  March 21, 2016

US-based IHS is combining with U.K.-based Markit in a tax inversion deal that will create a $13 billion data and business research provider headquartered in London.

The companies announced Monday that IHS shareholders will own about 57% of the combined entity after the close of the all-stock deal, which values Markit at about $5.9 billion.

IHS Markit would have more than 50,000 customers. “This transformational merger brings together two information-rich companies to create a powerful provider of unique business intelligence, data and analytics to a broad and complementary customer base,” IHS chief executive Jerre Stead said in a news release.

One of the expected benefits of the merger is that IHS Markit’s adjusted effective tax rate is expected to be in the low- to mid-20% range, far lower than the 35% U.S. firms pay.

“Technically, the deal is a tax inversion, where an American company merges with a foreign one to lower its tax bill,” the New York Times said. “However, IHS’s tax rate may not change much; it was about 20.5 percent for the year through November.”

Full content: The New York Times

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