CHICAGO and PARIS, May 17
/PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Morningstar
France Holding, a subsidiary of Morningstar, Inc. (Nasdaq:
MORN), a leading provider of independent investment research, today
announced it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire
Seeds Group, a leading provider of investment consulting services
and fund research in France. The companies expect to complete the
transaction within the next few months, subject to customary
closing conditions. Terms were not disclosed.
Seeds Group was founded in 2002 and, through its subsidiary
Seeds Finance, provides investment consulting services to pension
funds, insurance companies, asset managers, banks, and brokerage
firms. With more than 30 clients, the company and its affiliates
specialize in asset liability management (ALM), manager selection,
plan construction, risk, and portfolio management in alternative
investments and active strategies.
"Our acquisition of Seeds Group will expand our investment
consulting services in France, which has the largest asset
management market in Europe," said
Joe Mansueto, chairman and chief
executive officer of Morningstar. "Seeds Group has a well-known and
well-regarded brand in the French institutional market along with a
talented management team, whose expertise in alternative
investments will enhance our fund-of-funds investment management
capabilities."
In addition to investment consulting, Seeds Group also operates
Multiratings.com, a fund research and investment education website
for advisor groups and institutions. With both basic and premium
subscription levels, the site offers editorial and video
commentary, fund and industry analysis, and research tools.
"Morningstar is a good fit for Seeds Group because we share a
common commitment to providing independent, unbiased research and
advisory services that meet the specific needs of clients," said
Jean-Francois Bay, co-founder and
chief executive officer of Seeds Group. "The opportunity to become
a part of a global company like Morningstar will allow us to expand
our business into new channels and leverage expertise from across
the company. Its extensive fund databases and analysis will also
complement our research and analytical offerings."
Bay added, "We will be able to offer clients local expertise and
global reach, a timely combination given major changes in the
European asset management market. Challenges ranging from recent
regulatory changes to pension deficits across Europe are driving demand for new investment
tools and services to help investors manage their long-term
savings."
Seeds Group and its affiliates have 12 employees based in
Paris. After the acquisition is
completed, Jean-Francois Bay and
Vianney Dubois, co-founder and
managing director, will continue to lead the business and the
company will become a subsidiary of Morningstar France.
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:
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Media—In Chicago: Margaret Kirch Cohen, 312-696-6383
or margaret.cohen@morningstar.com
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Media—In Paris: Ingo Kellnar, +33 1 55 50 13 10
or ingo.kellnar@morningstar.com
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Investors: Investors
may submit questions to investors@morningstar.com or by fax to 312-696-6009.
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SOURCE Morningstar, Inc.