Week in Review - 10/20/2018

Notable M&A, product releases and people moves for the week ending 10/20/2018:

M&A

Argus, a commodities price reporting agency, bought Integer Research, a provider of market intelligence to the chemicals and fertilizer industry. The acquisition adds to Argus's presence in the fertilizer sector, having purchased FMB Consultants in 2011. Terms were not disclosed. 10/18/2018.

Dodge, the construction market research firm, purchased Integrated Marketing Systems, a provider of data and intelligence on public sector construction opportunities. Terms weren't released. 10/17/2018.

Newsweek Media Group completed its bifurcation into two separate entities, Newsweek and IBT Media. IBT Media will consist of the International Business Times, Player.One, Latin Times, Fashion Times and Medical Daily. Newsweek will consist of the eponymous magazine as well as its overseas editions. 10/10/2018.

Product

Financial Times is moving to gamify news by launching "Knowledge Builder"  This is a product of the FT's partnership with  :CRUX to enhance the personalization experience for FT readers. The product should provide improved content recommendations for users and increase engagement - leading to higher revenues for the FT.

FT's James Webb: "If we can get disengaged users to visit one extra time every 90 days and read just one extra article on a topic they are already engaged on, this could be worth up to £1.5 million a year."

The FT enterprise model is based on the concept of "core" readers, typically defined as a user who views 9 or more articles in a given month over the contract year. The Knowledge Builder recommendation engine will increase usage and thereby increase the number of "core" readers - and thus licensing fees. 10/17/2018.

IHS Markit announced a portal that consolidates data for market participants in the syndicated loan market. The portal offers consolidated data on position reconciliation, asset servicing and loan referencing. It is said to be the first and only service in the loan market to integrate data from multiple agent technology systems to deliver a unified view of positions and servicing activity to lenders. 10/10/2018.

Partnerships & Channels

Refinitiv have announced its data will be integrated with Microsoft applications and services.  Refinitiv's financial and markets data and news will be integrated in Microsoft applications and services, including Microsoft Excel, MSN Money, and Bing. 10/16/2018.