Brings complementary capabilities within S&P Global
Ratings related to the provision of second party opinions
NEW
YORK, Dec. 6, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- S&P
Global (NYSE: SPGI), provider of credit ratings, benchmarks and
analytics, has announced the acquisition of the Shades of Green
business from the Center for International Climate Research
(CICERO), Norway's foremost institute for
interdisciplinary climate research.
The acquisition will be integrated into S&P Global Ratings
and further expand the breadth and depth of its second party
opinions (SPOs) offering. SPOs are independent assessments of a
company's financing or framework's alignment with market standards
and typically provided before any borrowing is raised.
The global ESG debt universe has grown rapidly to reach
$4.5 trillion now compared to
$1.5 trillion two years ago according
to the International Institute of Finance. Shades of Green provides
independent, research-based SPOs of green, sustainability and
sustainability-linked financing frameworks and climate risk
assessments and impact reporting reviews grounded in climate
science. Since providing the SPO for the first green bond framework
issued by the World Bank in 2008, it has been a leading provider of
SPOs, since being established as a subsidiary to CICERO in 2018. The firm has won multiple
industry awards for the quality of its analysis and its Shades
of Green methodology is highly respected in providing deeper
transparency on climate risk.
"At S&P Global Ratings, we're committed to providing the
data, analysis and opinions that investors need to make decisions
with conviction. In the same way we strive to provide transparency
on credit quality with our credit ratings, we've been building the
capabilities and expertise to support the development of the
sustainable debt market," said Martina
Cheung, President of S&P Global Ratings. "Shades of
Green's unrivalled climate expertise and track record will help us
further expand and strengthen our ability to help our customers
seeking access to the sustainable debt markets."
"With S&P Global Ratings, we have found a partner with the
same commitment to transparency and the means to support a more
sustainable financial system," added Kristin Halvorsen, Director, Center for
International Climate Research (CICERO).
"The Shades of Green methodology provides transparency on
climate risk while motivating early-movers in the market and
rewarding advanced actors." Christa
Clapp, Co-founder, CICERO
Shades of Green.
S&P Global Ratings will retain an office in Oslo, Norway where Shades of Green is based.
The Center for International Climate Research will continue to lend
its climate expertise to Shades of Green and provide insights to
S&P Global's other leading sustainability businesses.
Since launching in 2017, S&P Global Ratings' SPOs have been
underpinned by a robust and published analytical approach and
produced by a team of sustainable finance analysts relying on the
sector level expertise provided by the credit analysts.
The transaction was signed and closed on 1 December 2022 and terms were not disclosed.
About S&P Global:
S&P Global (NYSE: SPGI) provides essential intelligence. We
enable governments, businesses and individuals with the right data,
expertise and connected technology so that they can make decisions
with conviction. From helping our customers assess new investments
to guiding them through ESG and energy transition across supply
chains, we unlock new opportunities, solve challenges and
accelerate progress for the world.
We are widely sought after by many of the world's leading
organizations to provide credit ratings, benchmarks, analytics and
workflow solutions in the global capital, commodity and automotive
markets. With every one of our offerings, we help the world's
leading organizations plan for tomorrow, today.
About S&P Global
Ratings
S&P Global Ratings, part of S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:
SPGI), is the world's leading provider of independent credit risk
research. We publish more than a million credit ratings on debt
issued by sovereign, municipal, corporate and financial sector
entities. With over 1,600 credit analysts in 26 countries, and more
than 150 years' experience of assessing credit risk, we offer a
unique combination of global coverage and local insight. Our
research and opinions about relative credit risk provide market
participants with information that helps to support the growth of
transparent, liquid debt markets worldwide.
About CICERO
CICERO is a world leading
institute for interdisciplinary climate research. We deliver high
quality research and knowledge that help society respond to the
climate challenge and strengthen international climate cooperation.
CICERO is internationally
recognised for its research on the climate effects of anthropogenic
emissions, society's response to climate change, and the
formulation of international agreements. We have played an active
role in the IPCC since 1992. In recent years CICERO has developed considerable expertise in
climate finance and in 2018 established CICERO Shades of Green, a subsidiary to
professionalise the climate risk services to the financial sector,
acquired by S&P Global Ratings in 2022.
Forward-Looking Statements: This press release
contains "forward-looking statements," as defined in the Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements,
including statements about COVID-19 and the completed merger (the
"Merger") between a subsidiary of the Company and IHS Markit Ltd.
("IHS Markit"), which express management's current views concerning
future events, trends, contingencies or results, appear at various
places in this press release and use words like "anticipate,"
"assume," "believe," "continue," "estimate," "expect," "forecast,"
"future," "intend," "plan," "potential," "predict," "project,"
"strategy," "target" and similar terms, and future or conditional
tense verbs like "could," "may," "might," "should," "will" and
"would." For example, management may use forward-looking statements
when addressing topics such as: the outcome of contingencies;
future actions by regulators; changes in the Company's business
strategies and methods of generating revenue; the development and
performance of the Company's services and products; the expected
impact of acquisitions and dispositions; the Company's effective
tax rates; and the Company's cost structure, dividend policy, cash
flows or liquidity.
Forward-looking statements are subject to inherent risks and
uncertainties. Factors that could cause actual results to differ
materially from those expressed or implied in forward-looking
statements include, among other things:
- worldwide economic, financial, political, and regulatory
conditions, and factors that contribute to uncertainty and
volatility, natural and man-made disasters, civil unrest, pandemics
(e.g., COVID-19), geopolitical uncertainty (including military
conflict), and conditions that may result from legislative,
regulatory, trade and policy changes;
- the ability of the Company to retain customers and to implement
its plans, forecasts and other expectations with respect to IHS
Markit's business and realize expected synergies;
- business disruption following the Merger;
- the Company's ability to meet expectations regarding the
accounting and tax treatments of the Merger;
- the health of debt and equity markets, including credit quality
and spreads, the level of liquidity and future debt issuances,
demand for investment products that track indices and assessments
and trading volumes of certain exchange-traded derivatives;
- the demand and market for credit ratings in and across the
sectors and geographies where the Company operates;
- the Company's ability to successfully recover should it
experience a disaster or other business continuity problem from a
hurricane, flood, earthquake, terrorist attack, pandemic, security
breach, cyber attack, data breach, power loss, telecommunications
failure or other natural or man-made event, including the ability
to function remotely during long-term disruptions such as the
ongoing COVID-19 pandemic;
- the Company's ability to maintain adequate physical, technical
and administrative safeguards to protect the security of
confidential information and data, and the potential for a system
or network disruption that results in regulatory penalties and
remedial costs or improper disclosure of confidential information
or data;
- the outcome of litigation, government and regulatory
proceedings, investigations and inquiries;
- concerns in the marketplace affecting the Company's credibility
or otherwise affecting market perceptions of the integrity or
utility of independent credit ratings, benchmarks and indices;
- the effect of competitive products and pricing, including the
level of success of new product developments and global
expansion;
- the Company's exposure to potential criminal sanctions or civil
penalties for noncompliance with foreign and U.S. laws and
regulations that are applicable in the domestic and international
jurisdictions in which it operates, including sanctions laws
relating to countries such as Iran, Russia,
Sudan, Syria and Venezuela, anti-corruption laws such as the
U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and the U.K. Bribery Act of
2010, and local laws prohibiting corrupt payments to government
officials, as well as import and export restrictions;
- the continuously evolving regulatory environment, in
Europe, the United States and elsewhere around the
globe, affecting S&P Global Market Intelligence, S&P Global
Ratings, S&P Global Commodity Insights, S&P Global
Mobility, S&P Dow Jones Indices, S&P Global Engineering
Solutions, and the products those business divisions offer
including our ESG products, and the Company's compliance
therewith;
- the Company's ability to make acquisitions and dispositions and
successfully integrate the businesses we acquire;
- consolidation in the Company's end-customer markets;
- the introduction of competing products or technologies by other
companies;
- the impact of customer cost-cutting pressures, including in the
financial services industry and the commodities markets;
- a decline in the demand for credit risk management tools by
financial institutions;
- the level of merger and acquisition activity in the United States and abroad;
- the volatility and health of the energy and commodities
markets;
- our ability to attract, incentivize and retain key employees,
especially in today's competitive business environment;
- the level of the Company's future cash flows and capital
investments;
- the impact on the Company's revenue and net income caused by
fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates;
- the Company's ability to adjust to changes in European and
United Kingdom markets as the
United Kingdom leaves the European
Union, and the impact of the United
Kingdom's departure on our credit rating activities and
other offerings in the European Union and United Kingdom; and
- the impact of changes in applicable tax or accounting
requirements on the Company.
The factors noted above are not exhaustive. The Company and its
subsidiaries operate in a dynamic business environment in which new
risks emerge frequently. Accordingly, the Company cautions readers
not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements,
which speak only as of the dates on which they are made. The
Company undertakes no obligation to update or revise any
forward-looking statement to reflect events or circumstances
arising after the date on which it is made, except as required by
applicable law. Further information about the Company's businesses,
including information about factors that could materially affect
its results of operations and financial condition, is contained in
the Company's filings with the SEC, including Item 1A, Risk
Factors, in our most recently filed Annual Report on Form
10-K.
Investor Relations: http://investor.spglobal.com
Media
Contacts:
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S&P Global
Ratings
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Christina
Twomey
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Arnaud
Humblot
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Global Head of
Communications
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Communications
Director, EMEA
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+1 (410) 382
-3316
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+44 (0) 7817 126
628
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christina.twomey@spglobal.com
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arnaud.humblot@spglobal.com
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SOURCE S&P Global