In an announcement tied to an exchange offering for a series of notes, Clarivate said that the closing date for its acquisition of ProQuest has been extended. The company, which announced in May that it had reached an agreement to buy ProQuest for $5.3 billion, explained that on July 28, it received a second request for documents and other information from the Federal Trade Commission, which is reviewing the purchase to ensure that it doesn’t raise antitrust issues.
In light of the second request from the FTC, Clarivate said that it has reached an agreement with ProQuest to extend the deadline for completing the sale from November 8, 2021, to December 31, 2021. Clarivate added that, though it "hopes to be in a position" to close the deal in the second half of 2021, it has agreed with ProQuest to provide an option to further extend the closing date to April 29, 2022.
In a release announcing the purchase in May, company officials said the combination of ProQuest's content and products with the London-based Clarivate's Web of Science platform would create "a leader in research and innovation information and workflow solutions across colleges and universities, research institutions, and corporations."
