S&P Global Agrees to Acquire With Intelligence from Motive Partners for $1.8 Billion, Establishing Its Leadership in Private Markets Intelligence
New York, October 15, 2025 - Motive Partners, the investment vehicle founded by Belgian fintech entrepreneur Rob Heyvaert after his exit from his consultancy group Capco, is selling its stake in London-based data provider With Intelligence to American credit rating agency S&P Global, along with several other investors.
S&P Global is paying $1.8 billion (€1.6 billion), making the sale of With Intelligence the largest exit ever for Motive. It's also one of the most lucrative: when Motive invested in With Intelligence in the summer of 2023, the company was valued at £400 million, or over €459 million. Motive, which controls 80 percent of With Intelligence, is therefore looking at a capital gain of approximately €913 million.
These are enormous sums for a company that likely only rings a bell with insiders in the financial world. The London-based group provides information to asset managers, institutional investors, and family offices and has a turnover of approximately €113 million. The group is primarily known as a data provider for players active in alternative investments that aren't listed on a stock exchange: think of investments in real estate, private equity, or non-bank loans to companies. These so-called 'private markets' were long reserved for the wealthy few in the financial world.
But in recent years, access to these 'private markets' has become somewhat more accessible. At the same time, large pension funds are also increasingly venturing into these unlisted investments. This immediately explains why a player like S&P Global is willing to pay such a high price for With Intelligence: 'private markets' are expected to double in size over the next five years, reaching a global value of $40 trillion.
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Motive Partners is also explicitly capitalizing on this trend, says Rob Heyvaert. To be clear, the group will not be investing directly in 'private markets' itself. Instead, it will be focusing on the underlying technology and platforms needed to enable these types of investments. "As these 'private markets' gain importance, there's also a greater need for systems to track these investments or technology to diversify your investments," Heyvaert explains. "Through our portfolio companies, we can develop the infrastructure with Motive Partners to make this possible. We're already the largest player in this niche, and through our companies, we make it possible, for example, to find a suitable asset manager or to onboard potential clients."
About S&P Global
S&P Global (NYSE: SPGI) provides essential intelligence. We enable governments, businesses and individuals with the right data, expertise and connected technology so that they can make decisions with conviction. From helping our customers assess new investments to guiding them through sustainability and energy transition across supply chains, we unlock new opportunities, solve challenges and accelerate progress for the world. We are widely sought after by many of the world's leading organizations to provide credit ratings, benchmarks, analytics and workflow solutions in the global capital, commodity and automotive markets. With every one of our offerings, we help the world's leading organizations plan for tomorrow, today.
About With Intelligence
With Intelligence provides critical, insight-enriched, exclusive data that powers smarter fund raising, deal origination, asset allocation, and servicing across private and public markets. Home to several of the industry’s most well-known and highly respected databases, including SPS, The Deal, Highworth Research, Eurekahedge and others, With Intelligence delivers deep visibility into opaque markets built on a foundation of 30 years of expertise at the heart of the alternatives marketplace. Its global team includes a diverse mix of data scientists, analysts, technologists, developers, and industry experts to deliver the bigger picture in the asset management industry. By combining one-of-a-kind data with expert intelligence and actionable, forward-looking insights, With Intelligence delivers an unmatched depth and breadth of perspective on alternative markets – from big-picture trends and competitor activity to detail on specific companies, funds and investors. With Intelligence’s data, insight, and responsive platform help investment professionals connect with the right people, intelligence, and opportunities.
For more information on With Intelligence, please visit www.withintelligence.com.
About Motive Partners
Motive Partners is a private investment firm exclusively focused on financial technology and technology-enabled business services companies, investing from early-stage ventures to growth equity and buyout in North America and Europe. The firm invests across five subsectors: banking & payments, capital markets, data & analytics, insurance, and wealth and asset management. Motive Partners applies its proven investor, operator, innovator (IOI) model across its portfolio, combining deep financial technology expertise and proven operational rigor to accelerate growth and value creation. With offices in New York, London, and Berlin, the firm provides differentiated insight, connectivity, and capabilities to create long-term value in financial technology companies.
More information on Motive Partners can be found at www.motivepartners.com
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