Morningstar, Inc. Increases Ownership Interest in Morningstar Korea
October 20 2009 - 12:45PM
PR Newswire (US)
CHICAGO, Oct. 20 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Morningstar, Inc.
(NASDAQ: MORN), a leading provider of independent investment
research, has increased its ownership in Morningstar Korea Co.,
Ltd., located in Seoul, Korea. Morningstar previously held a 40
percent interest in the company and now owns approximately 80
percent of the company. Financial terms were not disclosed. In
September 2009, Morningstar acquired an ownership interest of
approximately 20 percent from Seong Ryong, Ji, a private investor,
who continues to own approximately 20 percent of the company. In
early October, Morningstar acquired an ownership interest of
approximately 20 percent from SBI Korea Holdings Co., Ltd. Jason
Hee-Yuk Yoon will continue to serve as chief executive officer of
Morningstar Korea. Bevin Desmond, president of Morningstar's
international division, said, "We've been providing investment data
and information to the Korean market for nearly 10 years as a
minority owner in Morningstar Korea. As a majority owner in the
company, we'll be able to expand the range of services we can offer
investors in Korea." Morningstar Korea develops, markets, and sells
products and services to assist in the analysis of financial
portfolios and provides financial information and services for
investments in South Korea. The company also offers a local Web
site for individual investors at http://www.morningstar.co.kr/, and
consulting and advisory services through its subsidiary,
Morningstar Associates Korea. 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 nearly 325,000 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 the
global financial crisis that began in 2007; 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, 2008. 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. ©2009
Morningstar, Inc. All rights reserved. MORN-C Contacts: Media:
Margaret Kirch Cohen, 312-696-6383 or Investors: Please submit
questions to or by fax to 312-696-6009. DATASOURCE: Morningstar,
Inc. CONTACT: Media, Margaret Kirch Cohen, +1-312-696-6383, , or
Investors, fax, +1-312-696-6009, , both of Morningstar, Inc. Web
Site: http://www.morningstar.com/
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