Interactive Data has agreed to buy the assets of Online Financial Solutions (OFS) from Dow Jones.
OFS data and tools are used to develop and host Web-based offerings, including news, market data, research and advanced charting, portfolio management and alerting capabilities, for around 200 financial institutions, active investor services, and media Web portals. Dow Jones acquired the business in 2005 when it bought MarketWatch for around $519 million.
Following the new deal, Dow Jones will retain its news business and enter into a non-exclusive redistribution agreement with Interactive Data to sell MarketWatch news to new and existing customers in the OFS market.
Interactive Data will integrate the OFS assets into its US Managed Solutions group. The company "expects to retain a number of employees" currently affiliated with the OFS business, which has operations in Minneapolis, New York and San Francisco.
The firm says the acquisition will substantially expand its growing Web-based solutions business in North America. It will also create opportunities to expand OFS's existing relationships with US-based financial institutions by offering them a broader range of Web-based offerings, real-time market data services and other desktop services.
As part of the plans to migrate the OFS customers into Interactive Data's technical infrastructure, it has entered into a transition services agreement with Dow Jones for hosting and other related services for up to two years.
Ray D'Arcy, president and CEO, Interactive Data, says: "We see attractive opportunities for us to further expand OFS's business with its institutional customers by offering them a much broader range of services and solutions. In addition, this acquisition will bring us valuable development and support resources that can help us further scale this part of our business."
Dow Jones was acquired by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp for around $5.7 billion in 2007 and recently agreed to sell its 33.3% stake in Swiss index provider Stoxx to Deutsche Börse and Six Group for EUR206.1 million in cash.
Financial terms of the latest disposal were not disclosed to the press, but according to an SEC filing the business was offloaded for a mere $13.5 million in cash. The filing states that the unit will generate revenues of about $14 million for 2009, and is expected to be profitable.