Financial information and analytics company S&P Global today announced that the company will acquire the Massachusetts-based artificial intelligence analytics start-up, Kensho. The size of the deal amounts to USD 550 million, comprised of an unspecified mix of cash and stock, net of cash acquired. The two companies previously partnered up after an investment from S&P Global’s side, resulting in the collaborative development of products. The acquisition, therefore, is the next step in the successful partnership.

S&P’s forward-looking vision

S&P realizes the potential and the impact already made by artificial intelligence on the financial industry. As the finance industry is all about data and decision-making, there is a lot of value in the creation of better insights. The acquisition of Kensho is already the second announcement of an acquisition of a local machine learning company this month by S&P Global, as it previously announced the purchase of data analytics company Panjiva.

The popularity of Kensho

Kensho has enjoyed a lot of interest from financial firms before the acquisition, as S&P led the previously mentioned funding round totalling USD 50 million of Series B investment, last year. S&P Global CEO Douglas Peterson shared his thoughts by stating that “in just a short amount of time, Kensho’s intuitive platforms, sophisticated algorithms, and machine learning capabilities have established a wide following throughout Wall Street and the technology world.”

Kensho will continue to operate independently and keep ownership of its brand. The start-up currently has over 120 employees, and is headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

By Michael Brooijmans, Research Analyst