Administration November 1, 2006

RiskMetrics Snags ISS Off the Buyer's Block

November 1, 2006 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - Financial risk management firm RiskMetrics Group announced Wednesday it will purchase Institutional Shareholder Services Inc. (ISS), a provider of proxy voting and corporate governance solutions, for the price tag of $533 million in cash and stocks.
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ISS put itself on the buyer’s block in mid-summer and is said to have received bids from 19 suitors that include ratings firms Standard & Poor’s and Moody’s, according to the Wall Street Journal.

ISS’s president and CEO John Connolly will keep his spot and gain a board seat at RiskMetrics, according to a  press release about the merger. Connolly said the merger will allow the combined company to “be in a position to serve an even broader range of fiduciary and risk management requirements.”

RiskMetrics is a company that emerged from JP Morgan in 1995, offering financial risk analytics to banks, central banks, hedge funds, asset managers, pension funds and corporations.

Following completion of the deal, expected by year end, the combined company will have approximately 800 employees and generate over $200 million in revenue per year.

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