Dun & Bradstreet Agrees to Acquire Chase Subsidiary

Dun & Bradstreet Corp., the business information company, said Wednesday that it signed a definitive agreement to acquire Chase Manhattan Corp.’s Interactive Data Corp. for $140 million in cash.

Lexington, Mass.-based Interactive is a leading provider of securities information and related analytical services, providing performance data on public companies. It also furnishes prices of equity and fixed-income securities on a current and historical basis.

Interactive’s customers include research analysts with U.S. brokerage houses and investment banks, U.S. financial institutions and pension and mutual fund managers.

Dun & Bradstreet provides a host of business information services, including credit ratings on businesses. It also owns A. C. Nielsen Co., which gives advertisers television rating information.

The acquisition of Interactive Data will have virtually no effect on its earnings per share performance in 1988 and will be a positive contributor in future years, Dun & Bradstreet said.

The acquisition is expected to be completed by the end of March, it said in a statement.