Global investment firm The Blackstone Group Inc. (BX), through its private equity funds, has agreed to acquire International Data Group (IDG) for an enterprise value of $1.3 billion from Oriental Rainbow.
IDG provides market intelligence and proprietary insights and data to the technology industry. The acquisition will enable IDG to invest in growth opportunities as well as make strategic acquisitions.
IDG has made key acquisitions recently to bolster its expertise. Last month, it snapped up Metri to enhance its IT pricing, IT budget, operations benchmarking, and sourcing offerings. Last year, the company acquired Triblio to boost its software-as-a-service platform and the know-how to support marketing activation programs.
Peter Wallace, Global Head of Core Private Equity at Blackstone said, “The high-quality data, analytics, and insights IDG delivers to technology leaders are only becoming more critical as the pace of growth and innovation accelerates.” (See The Blackstone Group stock analysis on TipRanks)
Wallace added, “IDG has a trusted brand and deep knowledge of tech suppliers and buyers, and our investment will help the company accelerate its plans for creating even more advanced product offerings across its business.”
Recently, Argus Research analyst Stephen Biggar reiterated a Buy rating on Blackstone and increased the price target to $100 (8.3% upside potential) from $82.
Biggar noted that the company’s Q1 performance was driven by a surge in fee-related earnings and realizations on the back of improving asset valuations. The analyst also highlighted a “healthy” level of deployments at $18 billion during the quarter.
Consensus among analysts is that Blackstone is a Strong Buy based on 9 Buys and 3 Holds. The average analyst price target of $91.91 implies the stock is fully priced at current levels.
Shares have gained about 46.5% so far this year.
Related News:
Avantor Expands Into China With RIM Bio Acquisition
Esports Entertainment Signs Multi-Year Deal as LAFC’s Esports Tournament Platform Provider
Palantir Technologies Wins United States Special Operations Contract Worth $111M
