SHANGHAI, China, Dec. 12 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -- Xinhua Finance Limited ("XFL"; TSE: 9399; OTC ADRs: XHFNY), China's premier financial information and media services provider, today announced that its subsidiary Mergent, Inc. is partnering with Moody's to provide comprehensive terms and conditions data for a wide range of financial instruments. As a part of the same transaction, Moody's is acquiring the assets of Mergent's Pricing and Evaluation Service. Terms of the transaction are not being disclosed.(1)
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Under the agreements, Mergent's bond pricing business will be integrated into the newly established Moody's Evaluations Inc., which will focus on developing and providing pricing services, beginning with evaluated pricing information for the bond markets and expanding to other asset classes. Mergent will support the new service offering by providing its definitive terms & conditions database of North American issued corporate and municipal bonds for an annual royalty fee, complementing Moody's extensive resources of mortgage backed securities and structured products. In addition, Moody's will partner with Mergent to market Mergent's comprehensive fixed income terms and conditions data.
XFL COO Mr. Daniel Connell said, "We are pleased at this strategic move which brings together resources and expertise to fulfill the increasing market demand for independent and comprehensive pricing and evaluation services. This market-driven arrangement provides a better environment for the pricing business to grow further under a strong brand name, a dedicated sales force and a complementary addition of liquid and non-liquid securities databases."
Mergent's Pricing and Evaluation Service Inc. was established in 2004 to provide market traders with evaluated prices for bonds at the end of trading days utilizing Mergent's definitive fixed income terms and conditions data. Mergent will continue to own and sell its fixed income terms and conditions database after the transaction.
(1) The transaction does not meet the materiality threshold necessary to
trigger detailed disclosure requirements under the Tokyo Stock
Exchange rules.
Notes to Editors
About Xinhua Finance Limited
Xinhua Finance Limited ("XFL") is China's premier financial information and media service provider and is listed on the Mothers Board of the Tokyo Stock Exchange (symbol: 9399) (OTC ADRs: XHFNY). Bridging China's financial markets and the world, Xinhua Finance's proprietary content platform, comprising Indices, Ratings, Financial News, and Investor Relations, serves financial institutions, corporations and re-distributors worldwide. Through its subsidiary Xinhua Finance Media Limited (Nasdaq: XFML), XFL leverages its content across multiple distribution channels in China including television, radio, newspaper, magazine and outdoor media. Founded in November 1999, XFL is headquartered in Shanghai, with offices and news bureaus spanning 11 countries worldwide. For more information, please visit http://www.xinhuafinance.com.
About Mergent, Inc.
Mergent, Inc., a Xinhua Finance company (TSE Mothers: 9399) subsidiary, is the preferred provider of critical business and financial data on global publicly listed companies, indices and exchanges. The company is headquartered in New York, NY, and Charlotte, NC, with sales offices in key North American cities as well as London, Tokyo, Toronto, Sydney and Shanghai. Its product and service offerings include: Mergent Online; Mergent Manuals, Handbooks and Investment Guides; EventsData, web-based reporting of corporate actions and news events; access to municipal and corporate fixed income data; Ford Equity Research, independent equity research with buy, sell and hold recommendations; Mergent Active, a quantitative analytical research tool; Dividend Achievers Indexes, licensed index solutions, including ETF's and other investment funds; China Insight, comprehensive information for investment in China. Mergent's databases include information on more than 35,000 global listed companies in more than 100 countries. More information about Mergent, Inc. can be found at http://www.mergent.com.
