Markit Prices Upsized IPO At $24/share, Said To Raise $1.3 Bln

(RTTNews) - Financial information services Markit Ltd. (MRKT) on Wednesday priced its 17 percent upsized initial public offering of 53.47 million common shares at $24.00 per share, at the mid-point of its estimated range. The offering is said to have raised gross proceeds of about $1.28 billion. The company said its common shares will be listed on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the ticker symbol "MRKT."

The England, the U.K.-based company had earlier revealed in an amended Form F-1 filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on June 3 that it will sell 45.71 million common shares at an estimated price range between $23.00 and $25.00.

The company noted that all of the common shares are being sold by certain selling shareholders, and Markit will not receive any proceeds from the offering.

The selling shareholders have granted the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional 8.02 million common shares from certain selling shareholders to cover over-allotments, if any.

Meanwhile, the company revealed in the SEC filing that the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board or CPPIB, has indicated an interest in purchasing up to $450 million of its common shares at the IPO price.

The offering is expected to close on or about June 24, subject to customary closing conditions. Markit publicly filed an initial registration statement on form F-1 with the SEC for a $750 million IPO on May 5, 2014. Markit initially filed confidentially on January 27, 2014.

After the closing of the offering, the company said it will have an aggregate of 178.87 million issued and outstanding shares, immediately valuing the company at about $4.29 billion.

Founded in 2003, Markit is a leading global diversified provider of financial information services in ten countries. The company's products help enhance transparency, reduce risk and improve operational efficiency of more than 3,000 customers that include banks, hedge funds, asset managers, central banks, regulators, auditors, fund administrators and insurance companies.

The company's shareholders, some of whom are also customers, include Bank of America, Barclays, BNP Paribas, Citigroup, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, HSBC, J.P. Morgan, Morgan Stanley, RBS, UBS, Temasek, Credit Suisse and General Atlantic.

The company revealed that it generated revenues of 947.9 million for the year ended December 31, 2013, with about 49.9 percent coming from customers in the U.S., 40.3 percent from the European Union and 9.8 percent from other geographic areas. Revenues for 2011 and 2012 were $762.5 million and $860.6 million, respectively.

BofA Merrill Lynch, Barclays, Citigroup, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank Securities, Goldman, Sachs & Co., HSBC, J.P. Morgan, Morgan Stanley, UBS Investment Bank, BNP Paribas, Jefferies, RBC Capital Markets, RBS and TD Securities are acting as joint book-running managers for the offering.