Verisk to Buy Energy Sector Transaction Analyst

US analytics firm Verisk will pay $200m in cash to acquire Boston, MA-based PowerAdvocate, which provides market, cost intelligence and supply chain solutions to the energy sector.

PowerAdvocate generates its proprietary spend and cost data from transactions across thousands of energy sector services, materials and equipment categories - representing $2.7 trillion of spending data, according to the firm. It expects around $36m in 2017 revenue and $11m in EBITDA, with growth 'substantially higher' than Verisk's historical average organic annual growth rate of 7 to 8%.

In addition to the $200m in cash - funded through existing bank facilities - the deal includes a performance-based earnout of up to $80m. The transaction is expected to close before the end of the year, subject to standard conditions.

Verisk Chairman, President and CEO Scott Stephenson (pictured) says PowerAdvocate is 'a Verisk-like business' and the buy will expand the firm's existing offerings to the energy sector, as well as helping PowerAdvocate's solutions to expand more rapidly, tapping into Verisk's customer base.

Daniel Sullivan, President, Chief Exec and founder of PowerAdvocate, comments: 'We're very excited to join Verisk, as this will accelerate our growing business by providing greater access to global markets and Verisk's existing international customers. We offer a unique value proposition that will be further enhanced by leveraging synergies and collaborating with other Verisk business units and their data analytics'.

Former Nasdaq CFO Lee M. Shavel joined Verisk just two weeks ago as EVP and Chief Financial Officer.

Web sites: www.poweradvocate.com and www.verisk.com .