Clarivate Analytics to merge with Churchill Capital

Clarivate Analytics is to become a publicly listed company following an agreement to merge with Churchill Capital Corp.

The combined entity will operate as Clarivate and list on the New York Stock Exchange, with Churchill c.e.o. Jerre Stead to serve as executive chairman, and Clarivate's current management team, c.e.o. Jay Nadler and c.f.o. Richard Hanks, continuing to lead the business.

The transaction implies an initial enterprise value of $4.2bn, with a multiple of 12.5x Clarivate's estimated standalone adjusted EBITDA for the financial year 2019.

Clarivate provides comprehensive intellectual property and scientific information, decision support tools and services that enable academia, corporations, governments, and the legal community, to discover, protect and commercialise new ideas, mission-critical content, and brands.

Stead said: "We have respected Clarivate for a long time and are very pleased to now merge our companies.  Clarivate has a superior set of data assets, valuable customer relationships and extraordinary people. I look forward to working with Clarivate¹s management team to accelerate growth in organic revenue, EBITDA and free cash flow over time."

Clarivate c.e.o. Nadler said: "Clarivate accelerates the pace of innovation by supporting the world¹s innovators - the people and organizations behind a new idea, invention or brand. This is an exciting milestone in Clarivate¹s evolution that will open a wide range of future growth opportunities for the business and allow us to further invest in the brightest minds, game changing data science, and robust technologies. Jerre is a veteran of the industry and his insights will be invaluable as we enter our next phase of growth."

Onex, BPEA and Clarivate management are retaining 100% of their equity.