S&P Global (NYSE: SPGI) has agreed to acquire With Intelligence, a leading source of private markets data, insights and analytics, for $1.8 billion. The deal was cut with a group led by majority investor Motive Partners, a private investment firm exclusively focused on financial technology.
By combining With Intelligence’s proprietary data, benchmarks and workflow solutions with S&P Global’s expertise and brand in private markets intelligence and analytics, the company hopes to create one of the most comprehensive data offerings for alternatives and private markets participants. With alternative assets expected to approach $40 trillion by the end of the decade, this transaction accelerates S&P Global’s strategy and commitment to driving innovation and transparency throughout the private markets value chain by delivering end-to-end data, intelligence and connectivity.
Founded by Charlie Kerr in 1998, With Intelligence provides data and insights for alternative asset classes with a network across investors and managers. The company’s proprietary intelligence is sourced directly from LPs/investment allocators and GPs/fund managers.
Following its 2023 investment from Motive Partners and the reinvestment of management and ICG (who have been a significant minority investor since 2020), With Intelligence has become a leading provider of critical, differentiated data and analytics in alternatives and private markets, serving roughly 3,000 customers globally. In 2025, With Intelligence is expected to generate $130 million in revenue and annual contract value growth in the high teens.
With Intelligence’s extensive data assets include coverage across the fastest-growing sections of the market:
- 30,000 investors, including private equity, private credit, infrastructure, hedge funds and family offices
- 30,000 managers
- 70,000 funds, focusing on the largest funds globally
- 350,000 deals covered
“Private markets are one of the most dynamic and fast-growing areas of global finance, and providing innovative and differentiated data, benchmarks and workflow solutions in this space is a key strategic priority for S&P Global,” said Martina Cheung, president and CEO of S&P Global. “With the addition of With Intelligence, we are expanding the trusted legacy of S&P Global into private markets — bringing the same rigor, data quality and analytical depth that have defined our leadership. We look forward to welcoming the talented team from With Intelligence, as together, we’ll create the most comprehensive provider of private markets intelligence.”
“We’re deeply excited about With Intelligence’s proprietary data, insights and expertise — and even more so about what this combination unlocks for our customers and the broader private markets,” said Saugata Saha, president of S&P Global Market Intelligence and chief enterprise data officer of S&P Global. “From our private company data on S&P Capital IQ Pro, to differentiated intelligence across private equity and private credit and integrated solutions like iLEVEL, Valuations and WSO — With Intelligence’s capabilities complement our portfolio and enhance our ability to deliver the clarity and confidence needed in today’s increasingly complex private markets.”
“Joining S&P Global is a key milestone in our growth and one we are very excited about as it allows us to accelerate our strategy on a global scale by combining our proprietary datasets, benchmarks and relationships across GPs and LPs with S&P Global’s legacy, trust and reach,” Kerr said.
“Our partnership with Charlie and the broader With Intelligence team exemplifies Motive’s Investor-Operator-Innovator model in action, as we’ve built an extremely successful business at the heart of one of the most dynamic transformations in financial services,” said Rob Heyvaert, founder and managing partner of Motive Partners. “This transaction is a case study of the impact of our proven model, and a powerful proof point of our investment lifecycle thesis on data and analytics. Together with the With Intelligence team, we transformed a high-quality information services business into a true data and analytics company with real scarcity value. S&P Global is the right home to take With Intelligence’s success to its next phase — cementing its role at the center of the private markets data revolution.”
This acquisition is expected to deliver deeper insights, stronger connectivity and greater transparency across the private markets ecosystem — establishing S&P Global as a global leader in private markets data and solutions. It will bring to the market With Intelligence’s proprietary fund data and LP/GP relationship intelligence, complemented by S&P Global’s private company and transaction data for the Front Office.
In the Middle Office, customers will access With Intelligence’s benchmarking and performance data with S&P Global’s workflow and valuation solutions, enriching portfolio management and monitoring. The Back Office will continue to be supported with established solutions like WSO to streamline fund activity, performance reporting and transparency for clients.