Equistone to acquire Knowledge Services from Moody's

Financial details of the transaction remain undisclosed, though the vendor said in a statement that it anticipated that "sale proceeds and repatriated offshore cash" would enable it to repurchase around $300m of its outstanding stock.

Equistone is currently investing from Equistone Partners Europe Fund VI, which invests equity tickets of €25-200m in companies with enterprise values of €50-500m.

Knowledge Services' management team invested alongside Equistone for a minority stake in the newly independent company. Under its new owners, the business will look to expand its range of products and invest in the development of its technology.

Equistone investment director Richard Briault will take a seat on the Knowledge Services board of directors as part of the deal.

The transaction remains subject to certain closing conditions.

Company
Founded in 2014 via the merger of Moody's subsidiaries Copal Partners and Amba Research, London-headquartered Knowledge Services provides research and data analysis related to financial services. The company has a particular focus on investment banking, investment research, private equity, consulting and commercial lending. It operates from nine offices and its clients are primarily banks, asset managers and consulting firms.

People
Equistone Partners Europe – Tim Swales (partner); Richard Briault (investment director); Will Copeland (investment manager); Taha Hasan (UK head of origination).
Moody's Analytics Knowledge Services – Robert King (CEO).

Advisers
Equity – DC Advisory (corporate finance); Latham & Watkins (legal); EY (financial due diligence); Marsh (insurance due diligence).
Vendor – Centerview Partners (investment banking); Slaughter and May (legal).

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• Topics
• Buyouts
• UK / Ireland
• Support services
• United Kingdom
• Equistone Partners Europe
• DC Advisory Partners
• EY (Ernst & Young)
• Latham & Watkins
• Slaughter & May