Moody’s Corporation (NYSE:MCO) announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Cortera, a leading provider of North American credit data and workflow solutions. The acquisition enhances Moody’s integrated risk assessment capabilities and significantly extends coverage in the small and medium enterprise (SME) segment.
Cortera maintains one of the most comprehensive databases of credit information, featuring data and analytics on over 36 million companies. Cortera gathers data from thousands of sources, which it then enhances through artificial intelligence, and provides analytics, reports and monitoring services to help businesses make informed decisions about their counterparties.
“Cortera plays an important role in helping businesses understand each other,” said Stephen Tulenko, President of Moody’s Analytics. “Our customers will be able to leverage Cortera’s extensive information on small businesses with Moody’s proprietary analytic tools to make better decisions.”
The acquisition of Cortera will augment Moody’s extensive Orbis database of private company information and enhance its know-your-customer (KYC), commercial lending, and supply chain solutions.
“Combining Moody’s capabilities with Cortera’s robust data and analytics on US private companies will provide customers with deeper insights” said Jim Swift, CEO of Cortera. “This deal will greatly enhance our reach and capabilities and enable us to meet evolving customer needs.”
The acquisition is expected to close in the first quarter of 2021, subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions, including the expiration or termination of any applicable waiting period under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976. Cortera will be integrated into MA’s Research, Data & Analytics line of business.
The acquisition will be funded with cash on hand and is not expected to have a material effect on Moody’s 2021 financial results.
Source: Moody’s Press Release
