News

Genstar Capital has closed its previously announced buyout of Institutional Shareholder Services Inc, a provider of corporate governance and responsible investment solutions to investors, for $720 million. The seller was Vestar Capital Partners. Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP provided legal advice to ISS and Vestar Capital on the transaction while Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP served as legal counsel to Genstar Capital.

PRESS RELEASE

NEW YORK & SAN FRANCISCO (October 27, 2017) – Genstar Capital (“Genstar”) announced today that it has completed its acquisition of Institutional Shareholder Services Inc. (“ISS”) from Vestar Capital Partners (“Vestar”). The acquisition, which valued ISS at $720 million, was previously announced on September 7, 2017.

ISS is the world’s leading provider of corporate governance and responsible investment solutions for asset owners, asset managers, hedge funds, asset service providers, and corporations. ISS currently has more than 1,000 employees operating across 19 global offices in 13 countries. Its clients include institutional investors, who rely on ISS’ objective and unbiased proxy research and data to vote their portfolio holdings, as well as corporations focused on governance risk mitigation as a shareholder value-enhancing measure. ISS’ management team will remain in place.

Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP acted as legal advisor to ISS and Vestar Capital Partners on the transaction, Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP to Genstar Capital, and Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP to ISS’ management.

About ISS
Founded in 1985 as Institutional Shareholder Services Inc., ISS is the world’s leading provider of corporate governance and responsible investment (RI) solutions for asset owners, asset managers, hedge funds, and asset service providers. ISS’ solutions include: objective governance research and recommendations; RI data, analytics, advisory and research; end-to-end proxy voting and distribution solutions; turnkey securities class-action claims management (provided by Securities Class Action Services, LLC); and reliable global governance data and modelling tools. Clients rely on ISS’ expertise to help them make informed corporate governance and responsible investment decisions. For more information, please visit www.issgovernance.com.

About Genstar Capital
Genstar Capital is a leading private equity firm that has been actively investing in high quality companies for more than 25 years. Based in San Francisco, Genstar works in partnership with its management teams and its network of strategic advisors to transform its portfolio companies into industry-leading businesses. Genstar manages funds with total capital commitments of approximately $9 billion and targets investments focused on targeted segments of the financial services, software, industrial technology, and healthcare industries. For more information, please visit [www.gencap.com]www.gencap.com.

About Vestar Capital Partners
Vestar Capital Partners is a leading U.S. middle-market private equity firm specializing in management buyouts and growth capital investments. Vestar invests and collaborates with incumbent management teams and private owners to build long-term enterprise value, with a focus on Consumer, Healthcare, and Business Services & Industrial Products. Since its founding in 1988, Vestar funds have completed more than 80 investments in companies – as well as more than 200 add-on acquisitions – with a total value of approximately $50 billion. For more information, please visit [www.vestarcapital.com]www.vestarcapital.com.