Markit has acquired Data Explorers, a provider of global securities lending data, from mid-market private equity firm Bowmark Capital.
Data Explorers’ data set covers $12 trillion of securities in the lending programs of over 20,000 institutional funds. It offers a comprehensive view of short interest data and institutional fund activity across all market sectors.
The data is used by beneficial owners, custodians, agent lenders, prime brokers and asset managers to help inform investment decisions, manage risk and produce independent benchmarks.
Markit said that combining Data Explorers’ data set with its own products will facilitate the development of new offerings and will also allow clients to optimize their use of collateral.
Markit also plans to develop products for equity market participants in the ETF, dividend forecasting and quantitative research areas to complement its existing services.
“Markit’s acquisition of Data Explorers represents a logical extension to our existing data, research and analytics for the equity markets and complements our extensive fixed income offering," said Lance Uggla, CEO of Markit. "Our global distribution capabilities and robust technology infrastructure put us in a strong position to develop a compelling offering for our combined customer base globally.”
