It seems a little strange that Dun & Bradstreet Corp should be a seller of a business that supplies historical securities data and related analytical services, but the Financial Times Group of Pearson Plc is to pay Dun $201m for its Wilton, Connecticut Interactive Data Corp. The UK group also signed a five-year agreement to co-operate with Dun’s Moody’s Investors Service to create a database of quoted companies around the world. Interactive Data made operating profits of $13.6m on sales of $66.8m in 1994, and fits in with Extel, bought for ú73.5m by Pearson. Dun says the cash deal will give it a windfall pre-tax gain of about $90m, but that is going on one-time costs as it restructures to improve profitability. Separately, Pearson said its Tussauds Group uni t, which runs Madame Tussauds waxworks in London, will invest some $30m in a new high-tech attraction on 42nd Street in New York, which is planned to include (animated?) waxworks.
