Global financial information services provider Markit announced May 6 it has acquired an interest in commodity markets research and price reporting agency Prima Markets, a U.K.-based company whose focus since its inception in 2014 has been on the interface between biofuels, energy and agricultural markets.

“Commodities producers, traders and consumers are demanding greater transparency in commodity benchmarks and more accountability from benchmark publishers,” said Nathan Amery, head of commodities at Markit. “Utilizing our deep benchmark expertise, Markit will help ensure that Prima is ideally positioned to provide an alternative to traditional oil and agricultural pricing resources.”

According to Markit, Prima’s price assessment service provides impartial benchmarks for global niche markets in renewable commodities. Prima has developed a proprietary pricing software—Prima Discovery—to eliminate methodological flaws that can distort price assessments away from unbiased fair value, the company said.

“Commodities trading participants are eager for change and renewal in benchmarking and research activities,” said Matthew Stone, Prima’s managing director. “We see this partnership as a tremendous opportunity to increase our pace and scope of growth across the commodities spectrum.”  

Although Markit just made the announcement May 6, Prima’s staff had been working out of Markit’s offices in London, Singapore and Chicago since the beginning of the year, covering a wide range international renewables and other markets.