The Globe and Mail reports in its Wednesday edition Temasek's roughly $500-million (U.S.) investment in Markit looks timed just so. A Reuters dispatch to The Globe says financial "Big Data" and the potential in the Asian market are not necessarily new themes, but with Bloomberg on the defensive, it could be a good moment to suggest there is potential for another competitor. The deal values Markit at something around $5-billion. General Atlantic's investment in early 2010 gave the private financial information and services firm a price tag of $3.3-billion. Markit has grown on the back of data and related products that both complement and compete with services provided by organizations like Bloomberg and Thomson Reuters. The investment has several underpinnings, including a growing need by worldwide institutions to manage and mine mountains of information and the potential for Markit to expand in Asia. The $160-billion Singapore government fund's contacts at places like China Construction Bank and DBS, in which it owns big stakes, are obvious potential sales targets in the region. Markit has teamed up with banks and Thomson Reuters to provide a messaging service that could rival Bloomberg's popular version.