London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) has struck a $3.535bn all-cash agreement to buy Octus, the New York-based credit intelligence, data and workflow specialist, in a move that extends its reach deep into private and illiquid credit.

The sellers are funds advised by Permira, together with Octus’ management team, which includes founder Kent Collier.

LSEG intends to pair Octus’ capabilities with its own fixed income data, analytics and distribution, giving customers a combined set of tools to originate deals, evaluate risk and oversee portfolios across both public and private credit from a single platform.

The deal fills a notable gap. LSEG already holds a strong position in liquid credit through IFR news, evaluated pricing, corporate actions, and the Yield Book and LPC analytics businesses.

Octus adds expertise in illiquid and private credit, along with a large base of buy-side clients, especially hedge funds and alternative asset managers, a segment where LSEG has traditionally had limited penetration.

Taken together with Tradeweb’s planned purchase of Trumid, the transaction positions LSEG as an end-to-end provider serving every stage of the credit lifecycle.

Market dynamics underpin the rationale. Public and private credit are increasingly overlapping, and private credit has expanded to an estimated $3.5 trillion.

The addressable market for private markets data, workflow and access solutions is put at $7bn to $9bn, with double-digit growth anticipated as private markets assets under management rise and clients seek more timely, predictive and proprietary intelligence on less liquid assets.

LSEG expects both near-term and longer-term synergies. These include selling Octus’ products through LSEG’s worldwide footprint, offering LSEG tools to Octus’ credit-focused clientele, and building new products that blend Octus content with Workspace, LPC, Yield Book, PRS and Tradeweb.

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