NASDAQ Buys Index Provider
November 1, 2012
The NASDAQ's parent group is acquiring a new index provider.
NASDAQ OMX Group announced today that it has agreed to acquire the index business of Mergent, including index solutions provider Indxis.
The acquisition of Mergent bolsters NASDAQ OMX Global Indexes' provision of dividend-themed indexes based on benchmarked assets. The buy is expected to enhance NASDAQ OMX's custom index-offering capabilities and services, and increase AUM of ETFs licensed by the Indexes by 30%.
Executive Vice President John Jacobs said that this acquisition is part NASDAQ OMX's overall effort to become a full-service indexer. Within the last two years, NASDAQ OMX has launched four subsectors of U.S. indexes, including the Commodity and U.S. Fixed Income index families, and plans to launch a fifth, the NASDAQ Global Index Family, later this year. Its goal is to provide data sets for better values than competitors like the MSCI and S&P Indices.
Nasdaq OMX Group said in August it plans to launch 22,000 indexes this fall and 150,000 by the end of next year, using high-speed technology as its weapon against Standard & Poor’s and other index developers.
"We are very, very serious in growing our index business, and we will do that organically and look at the right opportunities to partner or acquire," Jacobs said. He declined to comment on specific deals that NASDAQ OMX is working on.
Fort Mill, S.C.-based index provider Mergent is the creator of Dividend AchieversTM Indexes, which tracks companies with strong long-term dividend growth.
