Morningstar to Acquire CRSP for $375 Million

By Hao Liu • Tuesday, September 23 10:22 • Permanent Link

Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ: MORN) announced its plans to acquire the Center for Research in Security Prices (CRSP) from the University of Chicago for $375 million. This strategic move aims to solidify Morningstar's position as one of the largest index providers for public US equity index funds. The acquisition will include the CRSP market indexes, benchmarks for over $3 trillion in US equities across various market capitalizations, investment styles, and sectors.

As part of this transaction, Morningstar will gain access to CRSP's trusted data validation processes and robust indexing methodologies, reinforcing its commitment to offering high-quality, data-driven tools for investors. The acquisition is expected to bring significant scale to Morningstar's index capabilities, with CRSP generating approximately $55 million in annual revenue.

The transaction is projected to close in the fourth quarter of 2025, subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory approval. Morningstar's CEO, Kunal Kapoor, expressed excitement about the opportunities this acquisition will create for investors and emphasized the critical role that assets tied to indexes play for asset owners when choosing providers.

CRSP, founded in 1960 at the University of Chicago, has long provided investors, academics, and regulatory authorities with financial data and market indexes to support research, scholarship, and investment strategy. With a history of over 65 years, CRSP is recognized for its high-quality and comprehensive historical US equity and index data.

Morningstar, Inc. operates as a leading provider of independent investment insights in North America, Europe, Australia, and Asia. The company offers a wide range of products and services for individual investors, financial advisors, asset managers, retirement plan providers, institutional investors, and other market participants. As of June 30, 2025, Morningstar's investment management services had approximately $352 billion in assets under management. Following these announcements, the company's shares moved -0.45%, and are now trading at a price of $234.11. Check out the company's full 8-K submission here.

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