Fourth-ranked ratings agency DBRS sold

DBRS, the world’s fourth-largest credit rating company, has agreed to be acquired by the Carlyle Group and Warburg Pincus for about $500m (€409m).

The headquarters of closely held DBRS, which has offices in New York, Chicago and London, will stay in Toronto, and Walter Schroeder, the firm’s founder, will remain an investor, the companies said in a statement yesterday.

“While our Canadian franchise and culture will continue to be at the core of DBRS’s operations, the breadth and depth of both Warburg Pincus and Carlyle’s international presence will be invaluable to DBRS,” Mr Schroeder said in the statement.