Euromoney Institutional Investor PLC (LON:ERM), the international online information and events group, and the owner of Metal Bulletin, the global metals and mining price reporting agency, has signed a binding contract to acquire 100% of the shares of FastMarkets Ltd.
FastMarkets is a leading provider of real-time metals market information. It will become an integral part of Euromoney’s extensive portfolio of digital pricing products that include Metal Bulletin and American Metal Market.
This acquisition is consistent with Euromoney’s strategy set out earlier in the year and it enhances the depth of information that Metal Bulletin can provide its clients across the metals and mining markets supply chain.
Established in 1999, FastMarkets is used by non-ferrous and precious metals traders and risk managers every day as an important workflow tool. Through its high-quality online platform, it provides over 120 proprietary price assessments, combined with exchange data including futures prices from the world’s largest commodity exchanges such as the LME and the CME. It provides coverage of non-ferrous physical premiums plus supporting treasury data supported by market commentary including webcasts directly from the LME floor. FastMarkets’ respected service also delivers daily technical and fundamental reports to its users.
Raju Daswani
On completion, Euromoney expects to make a cash payment of approximately £13m for the acquisition of FastMarkets.
Metal Bulletin’s Managing Director Raju Daswani said:
“FastMarkets is an excellent business that perfectly complements Metal Bulletin’s portfolio of price reporting and information products. Recent volatility in base metal markets has highlighted the need for high-quality price reporting on the physical metal markets to supplement the price discovery function of the world’s commodity futures exchanges. This acquisition complements Metal Bulletin and extends Euromoney’s global coverage of metals markets.”
FastMarkets’ Chief Executive Dominic Hall said:
“I am delighted that FastMarkets will be joining forces with Metal Bulletin as our two great businesses have such complementary strengths. FastMarkets adds strong real-time market data capabilities to Metal Bulletin’s pre-eminent position as the world’s leading provider of benchmark prices for metals. Together, we become the metal industry’s most important source for market intelligence, market data and benchmark pricing.”