Provider of financial product ratings and market intelligence, Defaqto, has announced the acquisition of Pearson Ham Group’s market pricing business, completed through Defaqto’s parent company, Fintel plc.
The £11m acquisition aims to bring together product and pricing data to create a unique proposition for insurers, advisers, and consumers, enabling deeper insights into consumer value, helping providers design smarter financial solutions and empowering consumers to make better-informed decisions.
The addition of Pearson Ham Group’s market pricing business means Defaqto’s product and pricing datasets in the UK personal lines insurance market cover motor, home, travel, and pet insurance.
The integration of pricing data also hopes to accelerate innovation across Defaqto’s technology portfolio, including its recently launched Matrix 360 platform, which currently serves 22 major insurers.
Proprietary data assets will underpin new capabilities such as 'value for money' ratings and advanced benchmarking tools, as the provider looks towards an AI-driven economy.
The market pricing business will initially operate as a standalone entity before being integrated into Defaqto during 2026.
"We are extremely excited about this strategic acquisition," John Milliken, CEO of Defaqto, said. "The Pearson Ham Group pricing business is a profitable, growing, cash-generative business with a rich historic data set and a strong value proposition that is invaluable to the UK insurance industry.
"The winners in the AI economy will be those with unique, valuable, proprietary data and expertise who can also innovate to benefit their customers. Through the combination of unrivalled product and pricing data, Defaqto has the tools to help the industry to better understand and deliver consumer value."
Matt Timmins, CEO of Fintel plc, added: "This acquisition is an important milestone in growing our Software and Data division. It exemplifies the type of high-quality, synergistic acquisition that we target as part of our strategy – enhancing our capabilities, deepening our market position, and reinforcing our position as the strategic technology and data partner to UK financial services."
Stephen Kennedy, CEO, Pearson Ham Group Market Pricing, said: "We are delighted to become a part of the Defaqto family, because of the exciting ideas we have to grow the business and Defaqto’s proven ability to integrate and add value to the businesses they acquire."
