Interactive Data to buy online financial data business from Dow Jones

Interactive Data to buy Dow Jones’ online business

BEDFORD, Mass. — Interactive Data Corp., a provider of financial market data, said Tuesday that it’s buying certain online financial data operations from Dow Jones & Co. for $13.5 million in cash.

Interactive Data sells real-time market data and other information to traders and financial institutions. It’s buying technologies from Dow Jones that provide online news, market data, research, advanced charting, portfolio management and alerts.

Dow Jones will retain its news business and assets such as BigCharts.com, which was part of its acquisition of MarketWatch Inc. in 2005.

Interactive Data said the acquisition will boost its online financial data business, which gives financial institutions various features on their Web sites to let consumers look up stock prices, manage their portfolio, get news about stocks they own, and others.

The Dow Jones business being acquired already has 200 institutional and other customers.

Interactive Data also agreed to redistribute news from MarketWatch to these institutions, which will make it available to their customers.

The acquisition is expected to boost cash flow this year and next, but won’t boost earnings until 2011. The deal is expected to close in several weeks.

Shares of Interactive Data, based in Bedford, Mass., fell 15 cents to $25.95 in afternoon trading.