News Corp. buys parent of IHS Markit chemical industry analytics business

News Corp. has completed its $295 million cash deal for the Base Chemicals business—including a well-known plastics pricing and consulting unit—of S&P Global Market Intelligence. The business will operate under the name Chemical Market Analytics by OPIS, a Dow Jones Co.

News Corp. first announced the acquisition of OPIS (Oil Price Information Service) and related assets from S&P Global and IHS Markit in February.

In a news release, officials with News Corp. in New York said that the Base Chemicals business "has a strong track record of growth, with a revenue base that is nearly 100 percent digital and recurring and, similar to OPIS, has high margins with modest (capital expenditure) requirements."

The deal resulted from the United Kingdom Competition and Markets Authority's request that IHS Markit divest Base Chemicals and OPIS as part of the S&P Global and IHS Markit merger, which was completed in February.

"Base Chemicals, together with OPIS, will substantially extend the reach and strength of Dow Jones' news and information capabilities in commodities, where the desire for data, analysis and insight is burgeoning, especially in energy, renewables, chemicals and related fields," News Corp. CEO Robert Thomson said.

"The business and teams we are welcoming to our company today have built one of the most trusted sources of information and analysis across the global chemical value chain," added Dow Jones CEO Almar Latour, who also serves as publisher of The Wall Street Journal.
Base Chemicals is known for its pricing data, insights, analysis and forecasting capabilities for the world's most important base chemicals. In the fiscal year ending Nov. 30, Base Chemicals generated about $65 million in revenues.

The unit has more than 1,700 customers across a wide range of industries and employs approximately 185. Plastics experts in the Chemical Market Analytics lineup include Nick Vafiadis, Robin Waters, Brendan Dooley and Joel Morales.

The $44 billion S&P/IHS merger was first announced in late 2020. S&P provides credit ratings, benchmarks and analytics in global capital and commodity markets. IHS generates information, analytics and solutions for major industries and markets. IHS moved into plastics and chemicals research when it acquired Houston-based Chemical Market Associates Inc. in 2011.