Markit IPO pricing values trading data company at up to $4.4bn

London-based trading data company Markit, which competes with Thomson Reuters and Bloomberg, said late on Tuesday it expects its Nasdaq initial public offering to price between $23 and $25 a share, raising up to $1.1 billion and valuing the whole of the company at up to $4.4 billion.

Markit said some of its shareholders intend to sell 45.7 million shares in the IPO and that underwriters will have a 30-day option period to buy up to 6.8 million more shares.

The company itself “is not selling any shares and will not receive any proceeds from the proposed offering,” said Markit.

Markit competes with Thomson Reuters and Bloomberg in the provision of trading data and information and its major shareholders include Goldman Sachs, Bank of America and Deutsche Bank.



Markit's customers include banks, hedge funds, asset managers, central banks, regulators, auditors, fund administrators and insurance companies.



Founded in 2003, Markit employs more than 3,000 people in 10 countries.

Markit reported revenue of $947.9 million for 2013, up 10 per cent. Its profit attributable to equity holders fell about 21.5 percent to $39.8 million for the three months ended March 31, while revenue rose about 14 percent to $259.4 million, according to Reuters data.