Glass Lewis, a proxy-voting advisory and corporate governance research firm, will be acquired by Xinhua Finance Ltd., Glass Lewis officials announced in a news release. Xinhua, a Shanghai financial news, information and research company, purchased 19.9% of Glass Lewis in August and expects to close on the remaining 80.1% in early 2007, the statement said. The announcement was first reported Thursday afternoon on Pensions & Investments' website, www.pionline.com.
Xinhua Finance will pay $45 million for the 80.1% stake, said a source who requested anonymity.
"Glass Lewis will continue to operate as a separate company, with its existing management, client services and research teams," the release said.
"This transaction puts Glass Lewis on a truly global and well-capitalized platform that will greatly benefit institutional investors," Gregory Taxin, CEO of Glass Lewis, said in the statement. "We believe the capital markets are best served by competition, transparency and independent analysis. The Xinhua Finance-Glass Lewis combination gives institutional investors globally an opportunity for more of each."
Fredy Bush, chief executive officer of Xinhua Finance, said in the release, "Since our initial investment in Glass Lewis in August 2006, we have come to realize what a great and growing opportunity there is in assisting investors to analyze and manage their financial, investment and reputational exposure to public companies."
