Citi to Sell Fixed-Income Index Business to LSE for $685 Million

May 30, 2017 at 09:16 AM

Share & Print

(Bloomberg) — Citigroup Inc. agreed to sell its fixed-income analytics and index business to the London Stock Exchange Group PLC for $685 million in cash following a strategic review of the unit.

The transaction includes Citi's fixed-income analytics platform, The Yield Book, and indexes including the World Government Bond Index, the New York-based bank said in a statement Tuesday. The deal is expected to close in the second half of the year.

"This partnership will help accelerate the growth of our business," Richard Burns, global head of The Yield Book and Citi Fixed Income Indices, said in the statement. "As part of London Stock Exchange Group, our clients will benefit from continued investment and strengthening of our analytics platform, together with a broader range of indexing capabilities."

The Yield Book traces its roots to books about bond data that Salomon Brothers began publishing in the 1960s. It offers a range of analytical tools for investors and traders in corporate, government and mortgage bonds, as well as derivatives and other kinds of securities, according to its website. Salomon Brothers, the Wall Street firm that essentially created the modern fixed income market, started Yield Book in 1989 as a software tool for helping customers calculate bond yields.

Bloomberg LP, the parent company of Bloomberg News, competes with other trading analytics companies.

— Read Bonds, Not Stocks, Are the Future for Active ETFs on ThinkAdvisor.