S&P Global Announces Four Directors from IHS Markit will Join the Board of the Combined Company
S&P Global has announced the addition of four independent directors from IHS Markit to its board following their merger agreement. The directors, Jacques Esculier, Gay Huey Evans, Robert P. Kelly, and Deborah Doyle McWhinney, are set to join after the transaction's expected closure in H2 2021. Their diverse backgrounds in finance and industry aim to enhance the board's leadership. The merger is anticipated to strengthen S&P Global's market position, but completion depends on various regulatory and shareholder approvals.
- Addition of experienced directors from IHS Markit enhances leadership.
- Merger expected to strengthen S&P Global's market position.
- Completion of the merger depends on regulatory and shareholder approvals, introducing uncertainty.
NEW YORK, Feb. 18, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Following the recent announcement of the merger agreement between S&P Global (NYSE: SPGI) and IHS Markit (NYSE: INFO), S&P Global announced today that Jacques Esculier, Gay Huey Evans, Robert P. Kelly and Deborah Doyle McWhinney will become Directors of the combined company upon closing of the transaction – which is expected to occur during the second half of 2021. All four are currently independent Directors of IHS Markit and their joining is conditioned on the successful closing of the transaction.
Mr. Esculier was most recently Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of WABCO Holdings until May 2020, when he announced his retirement from the company. He was also a Director of Pentair PLC until May 2020. Prior to these roles, he served as Vice President of American Standard Companies, President of its Vehicle Control Systems business and Business Leader for Trane Commercial Systems' Europe, Middle East, Africa, India & Asia Region. He has also held leadership positions at AlliedSignal/Honeywell, based in the US and Asia.
Ms. Huey Evans is Chairman of the London Metal Exchange and serves on the Boards of Standard Chartered, ConocoPhillips, and HM Treasury. She serves as Senior Advisor to Chatham House, is a Trustee of the Benjamin Franklin House and is a member of the US Council on Foreign Relations. Ms. Huey Evans was awarded an OBE in 2016 for services to the financial service industry and diversity and previously served on the Boards of Itau BBA International, the Financial Reporting Council, Aviva, and the London Stock Exchange and held executive roles with Barclays Capital, Citi, the Financial Services Authority, and Bankers Trust.
Mr. Kelly was Chairman and CEO of The Bank of New York Mellon until 2011. Prior to that, he was Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and President of Mellon Bank Corporation, Chief Financial Officer of Wachovia Corporation, and Vice-Chairman of Toronto-Dominion Bank. He was also Chairperson of the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Santander Asset Management. Mr. Kelly was a former member of the Boards of the Financial Services Forum, Federal Advisory Council of the Federal Reserve Board, Financial Services Roundtable, Trilateral Commission (North American Group), and Institute of International Finance. Mr. Kelly is currently IHS Markit's lead independent director.
Ms. McWhinney worked at Citi from 2009 to 2014, including as the Chief Executive Officer of Citi's global enterprise payments business, as the Chief Operating Officer of Citi's global enterprise payments business, and as President of Personal Banking and Wealth Management. Ms. McWhinney has held executive roles at Charles Schwab and Visa International and worked for 17 years at Bank of America in corporate and retail banking. Ms. McWhinney was appointed by President George W. Bush to the Board of Directors of the Securities Investor Protection Corporation in 2002 where she served until 2007. She also serves as a trustee of funds offered by Franklin Templeton, sits on the Boards of BorgWarner and LegalShield and is a former Board member of Fluor Corporation, Focus Financial Partners, Fresenius Medical Care, and Lloyds Banking Group. Ms. McWhinney is Chair of the Risk Committee of IHS Markit's board.
"This accomplished group of Directors will bring additional diverse and international leadership experience to our established Board," says Dick Thornburgh, Chairman of the Board of S&P Global. "Their work in the finance, commodity, and transportation industries both in the markets and in regulation will round out the skills and qualifications required for the combined company Board."
About S&P Global
S&P Global (NYSE: SPGI) is the world's foremost provider of credit ratings, benchmarks and analytics in the global capital and commodity markets, offering ESG solutions, deep data and insights on critical economic, market and business factors. We've been providing essential intelligence that unlocks opportunity, fosters growth and accelerates progress for more than 160 years. Our divisions include S&P Global Ratings, S&P Global Market Intelligence, S&P Dow Jones Indices and S&P Global Platts. For more information, visit www.spglobal.com.
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Forward-Looking Statements
This communication contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. These forward-looking statements, which are based on current expectations, estimates and projections about future business and operating results, the industry and markets in which S&P Global Inc. ("S&P Global") and IHS Markit Ltd. ("IHS Markit") operate and beliefs of and assumptions made by S&P Global management and IHS Markit management, involve uncertainties that could significantly affect the financial or operating results of S&P Global, IHS Markit or the combined company. Words such as "expects," "anticipates," "intends," "plans," "believes," "seeks," "estimates," "will, " "should," "may," "projects," "could," "would," "target," "estimates" or variations of such words and other similar expressions are intended to identify such forward-looking statements, which generally are not historical in nature, but not all forward-looking statements include such identifying words. Such forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, projections of earnings, statements of plans for future operations or expected revenues, statements about the benefits of the transaction involving S&P Global and IHS Markit, including future financial and operating results and cost and revenue synergies, the combined company's plans, objectives, expectations and intentions. All statements that address operating performance, events or developments that we expect or anticipate will occur in the future — including statements relating to creating value for shareholders, benefits of the proposed transaction to shareholders, employees, customers and other constituents of the combined company, the outcome of contingencies, future actions by regulators, changes in business strategies and methods of generating revenue, the development and performance of each company's services and products, integrating our companies, cost savings, the expected timetable for completing the proposed transaction, general conditions in the geographic areas where we operate and our respective effective tax rates, cost structure, dividend policy, cash flows or liquidity — are forward-looking statements.
These statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to risks, uncertainties and assumptions that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in such forward-looking statements. We can give no assurance that our expectations will be attained and therefore, actual outcomes and results may differ materially from what is expressed or forecasted in such forward-looking statements. For example, these forward-looking statements could be affected by factors including, without limitation, risks associated with: (i) the satisfaction of the conditions precedent to consummation of the proposed transaction, including the ability to secure regulatory approvals on the terms expected, at all or in a timely manner; (ii) the ability of S&P Global and IHS Markit to obtain shareholder approval for the proposed transaction; (iii) uncertainty relating to the impact of the proposed transaction on the businesses of S&P Global and IHS Markit, including potential adverse reactions or changes to business relationships resulting from the announcement or completion of the proposed transaction and changes to existing business relationships during the pendency of the acquisition that could affect S&P Global's and/or IHS Markit's financial performance; (iv) the ability of S&P Global to successfully integrate IHS Markit's operations and retain and hire key personnel; (v) the ability of S&P Global to implement its plans, forecasts and other expectations with respect to IHS Markit's business after the consummation of the proposed transaction and realize expected synergies; (vi) business disruption following the proposed transaction; (vii) economic, financial, political and regulatory conditions, in the United States and elsewhere, and other factors that contribute to uncertainty and volatility, including the United Kingdom's withdrawal from the European Union, natural and man-made disasters, civil unrest, pandemics (e.g., the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic (the "COVID-19 pandemic")), geopolitical uncertainty, and conditions that may result from legislative, regulatory, trade and policy changes associated with the current U.S. administration; (viii) the ability of S&P Global and IHS Markit to successfully recover from a disaster or other business continuity problem due to a hurricane, flood, earthquake, terrorist attack, war, pandemic, security breach, cyber -attack, power loss, telecommunications failure or other natural or man-made event, including the ability to function remotely during long-term disruptions such as the COVID-19 pandemic; (ix) the impact of public health crises, such as pandemics (including the COVID-19 pandemic) and epidemics and any related company or governmental policies and actions to protect the health and safety of individuals or governmental policies or actions to maintain the functioning of national or global economies and markets, including any quarantine, "shelter in place," "stay at home," workforce reduction, social distancing, shut down or similar actions and policies; (x) the outcome of any potential litigation, government and regulatory proceedings, investigations and inquiries; (xi) changes in debt and equity markets, including credit quality and spreads; (xii) demand for investment products that track indices and assessments, and trading volumes of certain exchange-traded derivatives; (xiii) changes in financial markets, capital, credit and commodities markets and interest rates; (xiv) the possibility that the transaction may be more expensive to complete than anticipated, including as a result of unexpected factors or events; (xv) the parties' ability to meet expectations regarding the accounting and tax treatments of the proposed transaction; and (xvi) those additional risks and factors discussed in reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") by S&P Global and IHS Markit from time to time, including those discussed under the heading "Risk Factors" in their respective most recently filed Annual Reports on Form 10-K. While the list of factors presented here is considered representative, this list should not be considered to be a complete statement of all potential risks and uncertainties. Unlisted factors may present significant additional obstacles to the realization of forward-looking statements. Consequences of material differences in results as compared with those anticipated in the forward-looking statements could include, among other things, business disruption, operational problems, financial loss, legal liability to third parties and similar risks, any of which could have a material adverse effect on S&P Global's or IHS Markit's consolidated financial condition, results of operations, credit rating or liquidity. Except to the extent required by applicable law or regulation, each of S&P Global and IHS Markit disclaims any duty to update any forward-looking statements contained in this communication or to otherwise update any of the above-referenced factors.
No Offer or Solicitation
This communication is not intended to and shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities or a solicitation of any vote of approval, nor shall there be any sale of securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such jurisdiction. No offering of securities shall be made except by means of a prospectus meeting the requirements of Section 10 of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended.
Important Information About the Transaction and Where to Find It
In connection with the proposed transaction, S&P Global and IHS Markit have filed and will file relevant materials with the SEC. On January 8, 2021, S&P Global filed with the SEC a registration statement on Form S-4, as amended (No. 333-251999) to register the shares of S&P Global common stock to be issued in connection with the proposed transaction. The registration statement, which was declared effective by the SEC on January 22, 2021, includes a definitive joint proxy statement/prospectus of S&P Global and IHS Markit. The definitive joint proxy statement/prospectus was mailed to the shareholders of S&P Global and IHS Markit seeking their approval of their respective transaction-related proposals. INVESTORS AND SECURITY HOLDERS ARE URGED TO READ THE REGISTRATION STATEMENT ON FORM S-4 AND THE RELATED JOINT PROXY STATEMENT/PROSPECTUS, AS WELL AS ANY AMENDMENTS OR SUPPLEMENTS TO THOSE DOCUMENTS AND ANY OTHER RELEVANT DOCUMENTS THAT ARE FILED OR TO BE FILED WITH THE SEC IN CONNECTION WITH THE PROPOSED TRANSACTION, CAREFULLY AND IN THEIR ENTIRETY BECAUSE THEY CONTAIN OR WILL CONTAIN IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT S&P GLOBAL, IHS MARKIT AND THE PROPOSED TRANSACTION.
Investors and security holders may obtain copies of these documents free of charge through the website maintained by the SEC at www.sec.gov or from S&P Global at its website, or from IHS Markit at its website. Documents filed with the SEC by S&P Global will be available free of charge by accessing S&P Global's website at www.spglobal.com under the heading Investor Relations, or, alternatively, by directing a request by telephone to 866-436-8502 (domestic callers) or 212-438-2192 (international callers) or by mail to S&P Global at Investor Relations, S&P Global Inc., 55 Water Street, New York, NY 10041, and documents filed with the SEC by IHS Markit will be available free of charge by accessing IHS Markit's website at www.ihsmarkit.com under the heading Investor Relations or, alternatively, by directing a request by telephone to 303-790-0600 or by mail to IHS Markit at IHS Markit Investor Relations and Corporate Communications, 15 Inverness Way East, Englewood, CO 80112.
Participants in the Solicitation
S&P Global, IHS Markit and certain of their respective directors and executive officers and other members of management and employees may be deemed to be participants in the solicitation of proxies from the shareholders of S&P Global and IHS Markit in respect of the proposed transaction under the rules of the SEC. Information about IHS Markit's directors and executive officers is available in IHS Markit's Form 10-K for the year ended November 30, 2020, its proxy statement dated February 28, 2020 for its 2020 Annual General Meeting of Shareholders and certain of its Current Reports on Form 8-K. Information about S&P Global's directors and executive officers is available in S&P Global's Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020, its proxy statement dated March 30, 2020 for its 2020 Annual Meeting of Shareholders, and certain of its Current Reports on Form 8-K. Additional information regarding the participants in the proxy solicitation and a description of their direct and indirect interests, by security holdings or otherwise, are contained in the definitive joint proxy statement/prospectus and will be contained in other relevant materials to be filed with the SEC regarding the transaction when they become available. Investors should read the joint proxy statement/prospectus carefully before making any voting or investment decisions. You may obtain free copies of these documents from S&P Global or IHS Markit using the sources indicated above.
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SOURCE S&P Global
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