Morningstar to buy market data firm for $375 million to bolster index business

Sept 23 (Reuters) - Morningstar MORN.O said on Tuesday it will buy market data firm, the Center for Research in Security Prices (CRSP), from the University of Chicago for $375 million, as the investment insights firm looks to expand its index business.

The deal is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2025.

WHY IT'S IMPORTANT

The acquisition will give Morningstar access to the CRSP Market Indexes, which benchmarks more than $3 trillion in U.S. equities across market capitalizations, investment styles and sectors.

It will also catapult Morningstar into one of the largest index providers for public U.S. equity index funds, it said.

CONTEXT

Founded in 1960 at the university, CRSP provides historical stock market data and indexes to investors, academics, and regulatory authorities.

Morningstar entered the index business in 2001 and currently offers more than 25,000 indexes that can be used as performance benchmarks.

North America, Europe, the Middle East and Africa were the largest markets of Morningstar's index business last year.

BY THE NUMBERS

The asset value linked to Morningstar Indexes business rose 6.5% to $221 billion in the three months ended June 30.

CRSP generates roughly $55 million in annual revenue, while Morningstar Indexes generated $84.7 million in revenue last year.