S&P Global's Acquisition of Kensho Technologies Hits Early Milestone; Expands Private Company Data Offering to Clients

NEW YORK, May 14, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- S&P Global (NYSE: SPGI) announced today that the Company has hit an exciting milestone in an alternative data linking project in collaboration with Kensho Technologies Inc. ("Kensho"), acquired by SPGI in April, and Crunchbase, a well-known destination for data on some the world's most innovative companies. Leveraging Kensho's machine learning algorithms, S&P Global Market Intelligence platform users can now access robust information on privately held companies licensed from Crunchbase.

"The Private Company Data space is an area of enormous growth and of high value to many of our clients who are particularly interested in being able to identify early stage, venture backed companies prime for acquisition or investment," noted Mike Chinn, Executive Vice President of Data and Technology Innovation at S&P Global and President of S&P Global Market Intelligence. "Given the complexity and opaqueness of this data, we had originally expected project completion to take several months. I'm thrilled that in less than a month after our acquisition of Kensho, S&P Global has already hit this major milestone, strengthening our ability to meet the demand of clients at an accelerated pace as we become the go-to resource for comprehensive private company data."

"This is a significant milestone for S&P Global. By partnering with Kensho and Crunchbase on this project, we have fast-tracked our ability to deliver essential intelligence for our clients at the speed the market demands," remarked Nick Cafferillo, S&P Global's Chief Technology Officer. "The Kensho linking capability enables us to expand quickly into new markets by allowing us to onboard new data sets, in this case private company data. This also reinforces how emerging technologies like machine learning can have a massive impact on the way we work by increasing our internal efficiencies."

By leveraging Crunchbase data, coupled with Kensho's machine learning algorithms, S&P Global's ability to provide expedited insights is particularly valuable for companies at the venture stage, allowing for greater accuracy in making informed investment decisions or for those organizations interested in acquiring or investing in these private companies.

"This is a perfect first demonstration of what Kensho and S&P Global can do together. With just a few days' effort, we were able to extend S&P's leadership as one of the world's premier providers of company data, using artificial intelligence," noted Daniel Nadler, CEO, Kensho. "And this is just the beginning: we developed the technology in a reusable way that will enable S&P Global to deliver ever more complex datasets to their clients more rapidly than ever before."

Forward-Looking Statements: This press release contains "forward-looking statements," as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements, 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:

* the impact of the recent acquisition of Kensho, including the impact on the Company's results of operations; any failure to successfully integrate Kensho into the Company's operations; any failure to attract and retain key employees; and the risk of litigation, unexpected costs, charges or expenses relating to the acquisition;
* worldwide economic, financial, political and regulatory conditions, including conditions that may result from legislative, regulatory and policy changes associated with the current U.S. administration or the United Kingdom's withdrawal from the European Union;
* the rapidly evolving regulatory environment, in Europe, the United States and elsewhere, affecting Ratings, S&P Global Platts, Indices, and S&P Global Market Intelligence, including new and amended regulations and the Company's compliance therewith;
* the Company's ability to make acquisitions and dispositions and successfully integrate the businesses we acquire;
* the outcome of litigation, government and regulatory proceedings, investigations and inquiries;
* the health of debt and equity markets, including credit quality and spreads, the level of liquidity and future debt issuances;
* the demand and market for credit ratings in and across the sectors and geographies where the Company operates;
* concerns in the marketplace affecting the Company's credibility or otherwise affecting market perceptions of the integrity or utility of independent credit ratings;
* the effect of competitive products and pricing, including the level of success of new product developments and global expansion;
* 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 of the energy marketplace;
* the health of the commodities markets;
* the Company's ability to attract, incentivize and retain key employees;
* the Company's ability to maintain adequate physical, technical and administrative safeguards to protect the security of confidential information and data, and the potential of a system or network disruption that results in regulatory penalties, remedial costs or improper disclosure of confidential information or data;
* 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, power loss, telecommunications failure or other natural or man-made event;
* 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 its credit rating activities and other European and United Kingdom offerings;
* changes in applicable tax or accounting requirements;
* guidance and information regarding the implementation of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act;
* 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; and
* the Company's exposure to potential criminal sanctions or civil penalties if it fails to comply 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 and Syria, 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 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 the "Risk Factors" section in the Company's most recently filed Annual Report on Form 10-K and any subsequently filed Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q.

About S&P Global 
S&P Global is a leading provider of transparent and independent ratings, benchmarks, analytics and data to the capital and commodity markets worldwide. The Company's divisions include S&P Global Ratings, S&P Global Market Intelligence, S&P Dow Jones Indices and S&P Global Platts. S&P Global has approximately 20,000 employees in 31 countries. For more information visit www.spglobal.com.  

About Kensho Technologies Inc.
Kensho is an award-winning machine intelligence company founded out of Harvard University in 2013. Kensho's early team members came from veteran roles at Google, as well as from academia. Kensho applies AI for real-world impact across government and commercial institutions around the world. For more information, visit www.kensho.com.

About S&P Global Market Intelligence 
At S&P Global Market Intelligence, we know that not all information is important—some of it is vital. We integrate financial and industry data, research and news into tools that help track performance, generate alpha, identify investment ideas, understand competitive and industry dynamics, perform valuations and assess credit risk. Investment professionals, government agencies, corporations and universities globally can gain the intelligence essential to making business and financial decisions with conviction.  
S&P Global Market Intelligence is a division of S&P Global (NYSE: SPGI). For more information, visit www.spglobal.com.  

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SOURCE S&P Global