CHICAGO, May 3 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Morningstar, Inc.
(Nasdaq: MORN), a leading provider of independent investment
research, has completed its previously announced acquisition of
Realpoint, LLC, a Nationally Recognized Statistical Ratings
Organization (NRSRO) that specializes in structured finance. The
purchase price consists of approximately $42
million in cash, subject to post-closing adjustments, and
approximately 199,000 shares of restricted stock valued at
approximately $10 million at the time
the acquisition was announced March 19,
2010. Realpoint had revenue of approximately $12 million in 2009.
Realpoint currently offers securities ratings, research,
surveillance services, and data to help institutional investors
identify credit risk in commercial mortgage-backed securities. More
than 225 institutional investment firms subscribe to Realpoint's
trusted ratings and analytics, including the majority of investment
managers who invest in commercial mortgage-backed securities.
Realpoint has about 40 employees in Horsham, Pennsylvania, a suburb of
Philadelphia. Realpoint will
become a business unit within Morningstar's Equity and Credit
Research business. Over time, the company will be rebranded under
Morningstar.
About Morningstar, Inc.
Morningstar, Inc. is a leading provider of independent
investment research in North
America, Europe,
Australia, and Asia. The company offers an extensive line of
Internet, software, and print-based products and services for
individuals, financial advisors, and institutions. Morningstar
provides data on approximately 350,000 investment offerings,
including stocks, mutual funds, and similar vehicles, along with
real-time global market data on more than 4 million equities,
indexes, futures, options, commodities, and precious metals, in
addition to foreign exchange and Treasury markets. The company has
operations in 20 countries and minority ownership positions in
companies based in two other countries.
Caution Concerning Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements as that
term is used in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of
1995. These statements are based on our current expectations about
future events or future financial performance. Forward-looking
statements by their nature address matters that are, to different
degrees, uncertain, and often contain words such as "may," "could,"
"expect," "intend," "plan," "seek," "anticipate," "believe,"
"estimate," "predict," "potential," or "continue." These statements
involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that may cause
the events we discussed not to occur or to differ significantly
from what we expected. For us, these risks and uncertainties
include, among others, general industry conditions and competition,
including current global financial uncertainty; the impact of
market volatility on revenue from asset-based fees; damage to our
reputation resulting from claims made about possible conflicts of
interest; liability for any losses that result from an actual or
claimed breach of our fiduciary duties; financial services industry
consolidation; a prolonged outage of our database and network
facilities; challenges faced by our non-U.S. operations; and the
availability of free or low-cost investment information. A more
complete description of these risks and uncertainties can be found
in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission,
including our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended
December 31, 2009. If any of these
risks and uncertainties materialize, our actual future results may
vary significantly from what we expected. We do not undertake to
update our forward-looking statements as a result of new
information or future events.
©2010 Morningstar, Inc. All rights reserved.
MORN-C
Contacts:
Nadine Youssef, 312-696-6601 or
nadine.youssef@morningstar.com
Investors: Investors may submit questions to
investors@morningstar.com or by fax to 312-696-6009.
SOURCE Morningstar, Inc.