Deutsche Börse Completes Acquisition of 81% Stake in ISS

Deutsche Börse, one of the largest exchange organisations worldwide, announced that it has successfully completed the acquisition of an 81% majority stake in Institutional Shareholder Services Inc. (ISS), a governance, ESG data and analytics provider.

Founded in 1985, Institutional Shareholder Services group of companies (ISS) empowers investors and companies to build for long-term and sustainable growth by providing high-quality data, analytics and insight.

The deal will enable Deutsche Börse and ISS to jointly serve the ever-growing demand for in-depth extra-financial data, research and analytics. Together, both partners will support market participants in making well-informed investment decisions with a particular view on sustainability criteria. Deutsche Börse thereby further commits to one of the key megatrends in the industry that will fundamentally change the investment business over the coming years.

Stephan Leithner, Member of the Executive Board of Deutsche Börse AG commented:”The quality, precision and breadth of ISS' data and research is unique in the market. Especially the company's ESG expertise and data capabilities are highly complementary to Deutsche Börse's businesses along the entire value chain. This acquisition therefore is a logical step in our ESG growth strategy, adding an important piece to the puzzle to become one of the world's leading market infrastructure players on this critical development.”

“We are pleased to be joining the Deutsche Börse group of companies and look forward to working with our new colleagues in furtherance of our long-standing mission to empower investors and companies to build for long-term and sustainable growth,” said Gary Retelny, President and CEO of ISS. “ISS will continue to deliver the same independent and high-quality research, ratings, and other offerings our clients have come to expect, and we will continue to invest and innovate to ensure they receive next-generation solutions.”