McGraw Hill Financial buying SNL Financial for about $2.23B

McGraw Hill Financial Inc. has reached a deal to buy SNL Financial LC for about $2.23 billion in cash, a move to expand its data services.

McGraw Hill, which also reported second-quarter results on Monday, said the deal was expected to add to adjusted diluted earnings per share in 2016, excluding amortization.

McGraw Hill’s shares declined less than 1 percent on Friday in New York at $105.58, giving it a market value of about $28.9 billion. The firm also anticipates that synergies of about $70 million would be fully realized by 2019.

Evercore and Goldman Sachs acted as financial advisors and Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz and Clifford Chance LLP acted as legal advisors to McGraw Hill Financial.

SNL Financial, which is based in Charlottesville, Va., provides data, commentary, and services for banking, real estate, energy and other sectors. Japan’s Nikkei Inc. agreed last week to buy the FT Group from Pearson Plc for $1.3 billion, and Pearson sold Mergermarket to BC Partners, a London-based private equity firm, for 382 million pounds ($592 million) in 2013.

The company maintained its full-year forecast for adjusted earnings per share of between $4.35 and $4.45, despite expectations of a 5-7 cent dilution from the deal.

McGraw Hill shares have risen 19 percent since the beginning of the year, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index has increased 1 percent.

In its S&P Ratings Services unit, revenue edged down 1% to $658 million amid currency impacts and low bond issuance.