NEW YORK—News Corp has completed the purchase of Oil Price Information Service (OPIS), which will join Dow Jones’ professional information business, according to a news release. The acquisition includes OPIS’ related assets, including the coal, mining and metals business from S&P Global and IHS Markit.
News Corp acquired OPIS for $1.15 billion in a cash transaction, subject to customary adjustments (and expects to receive an estimated tax benefit of $180 million as part of the transaction). News Corp also has an agreement to acquire the Base Chemicals business from S&P Global and IHS Markit. That acquisition is expected to close in the coming months.
“The OPIS acquisition will significantly enhance our ability to provide high-quality, high-margin professional products in the energy sector, including renewables and carbon benchmarking, for which there is urgent demand from serious companies,” said Robert Thomson, chief executive of News Corp. “Both OPIS and Base Chemicals are digital and particularly profitable, and we expect their positive financial impact will be obvious to investors. The fact that both sales were required for regulatory approval of the S&P Global and IHS Markit merger ensured that we were able to make the acquisitions for rather attractive multiples.”
According to the release, OPIS will help Dow Jones in its goal of building a global business news and information platform for professionals.
“This is a historic moment for Dow Jones, reflecting our continued commitment to investing in premium, proprietary data, analysis and journalism to help our customers make decisions,” said Almar Latour, chief executive officer of Dow Jones and publisher of The Wall Street Journal. “OPIS will help Dow Jones expand the reach of our information services to new industries and segments. Together we will provide a formidable offering of information and analysis to help the global energy community navigate the rapidly changing landscape, including the ongoing transition to sustainability.”
OPIS, founded in 1977, is a global industry standard for benchmark and reference pricing and news and analytics for the oil, natural gas liquids and biofuels industries, and a growing provider of insights and analytics in renewables and carbon pricing.
Brian Crotty, general manager of OPIS, said, “Dow Jones has a reputation for being a source of truth for business news and information, delivering compelling editorial analysis that is backed by data. By joining forces, and bringing together our complementary methodologies, we further enhance our ability to deliver a premium product for our customers. Today marks the start of an exciting new chapter for our business as we join the Dow Jones family.”
Headquartered in Rockville, Maryland, OPIS also has offices in Mexico, the United Kingdom, France, Romania and Singapore. The company employs approximately 400 professionals globally.
NACS and OPIS have a long-standing partnership. OPIS lends invaluable oil market information each year to the NACS State of the Industry Report, and it participates in the NACS State of the Industry Summit, among other collaborations. Fuels Market News, published by NACS, each week brings OPIS pricing information to e-newsletter subscribers.