The financial terms of the deal have not been publicly disclosed. It is expected to close shortly according to Thomson officials.
Founded in 1997 and headquartered in Chicago, QAI develops analytic software that is currently used by around 200 investment worldwide for securities selection, modeling, back-testing, portfolio construction and trading strategy development.
Its software products pull together multiple, proprietary data sources into an integrated database of financial information on top of which it provides sophisticated analytical and reporting tools.
Both companies have partnered closely in the past.
QAI and all its employees will be absorbed into the investment management group of Thomson’s Financial division, offering customers, what Suresh Kavan, president of corporate services and investment banking at Thomson calls, one stop access to market leading data sets, quantitative analysis and integrated delivery systems.
Kavan said the company is eyeing to break into new segments in the $2.5m buy-side market.
Stamford, Connecticut-based Thomson, which provides information for the financial and legal and other fields, is controlled by Toronto’s billionaire Thomson family. Annual revenue runs at around $8bn driven by the company’s broad product portfolio which includes legal databases and university textbooks.
