Black Knight moves to buy the rest of Optimal Blue from co-investors

The acquired company will become a wholly-owned subsidiary

Black Knight moves to buy the rest of Optimal Blue from co-investors

Black Knight has acquired the remaining shares of fintech company Optimal Blue from its co-investors, Cannae Holdings and Thomas H. Lee Partners (THL).

Under the terms of the deal, Black Knight will purchase the outstanding shares of Dun & Bradstreet Holdings stock valued at $722.5 million and $433.5 million in cash. Black Knight will fund the transaction, which is valued at an aggregate purchase price of $1.2 billion, with borrowings under its revolving credit facility, a release said.

Read more: Black Knight to acquire Optimal Blue for $1.8b

“The performance of Optimal Blue has been outstanding by any measure. The integration has gone very well, and there continue to be opportunities to go even further with our industry-leading solutions,” said Black Knight chairman and CEO Anthony Jabbour. “We are looking forward to the continued strong performance of Optimal Blue, and the great cross-sell opportunities we have as we move forward as one company.”

Once the transaction is complete, Optimal Blue will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Black Knight. The company said that this will “simplify” its organizational structure with Optimal Blue and raise its 2022 adjusted EPS by $0.11, as well as its gross leverage ratio to 3.9X on a pro forma basis.

Additionally, Black Knight will also own approximately 18.5 million shares of Dun & Bradstreet with a fair value of $352.8 million after closing the deal.

“When we invested in Dun & Bradstreet three years ago, we had a high degree of conviction that the investment would generate outstanding returns for our shareholders, and that is the result we have seen,” Jabbour said. “With the value of our Dun & Bradstreet investment more than doubling, we are taking those gains and investing them in this transaction, which is strategically important to Black Knight.”