Morningstar, the funds analysis company, is to buy DBRS, the fourth-biggest credit rating agency after Standard & Poor’s, Moody’s and Fitch.

Morningstar will purchase the Canadian agency from its private equity owners for $669m. The deal is Morningstar’s largest acquisition to date, chief executive Kunal Kapoor said in a letter to partners and shareholders on May 29. Kapoor added that the company wants to create a “fintech ratings agency”, promising to “delve into the use of transformative approaches such as blockchain in the asset origination and bond issuance process”.