Artprice Partners With Artron, China's Leading Art Market Information Processor, in a Now Bipolar Global Art Market

PARIS, February 21, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --

Artprice's strategic alliance with Artron represents an unprecedented move with an immediate impact on today's bipolar map of the global Art Market. Among the many synergies expected from this partnership, Artprice's exclusive access to previously unavailable key data concerning the Chinese art market will allow an even truer vision of the global market and will give the two global art-information majors full control over market data processing, market dematerialization activities and an entire range of global art market value chains.

According to Thierry Ehrmann, founder and CEO of Artprice, "this unique and exclusive alliance with Artron will allow total mastery of an art market that has become bipolar (i.e. the West plus Asia)." Artron is the major global player in China and Greater Asia. Artprice and Artron consider their alliance to have been patiently constructed over time via reciprocal diplomacy in the framework of a long-term strategy. Over the years, Artprice and Artron have developed a thorough understanding of China's leadership ambitions with respect to the global art market.

Beyond the economic interests flowing from the parties' contractual obligations, this alliance will allow Artprice to distribute a fair and accurate picture of the global art market in real time to its global clients, the main news agencies, 6,300 publications worldwide and its 2.3 million members.

In historical terms, China was the world's leading artistic light-house for many centuries. During the 19th and 20th centuries, its relative absence from the West - while it developed its internal market - coincided with the development in the West of the standards, both academic and economic, that prevail in today's global art market. However, this period of relative absence is rapidly closing and China is once again keen to project its influence and culture around the globe.

It is therefore entirely logical for Artron to ally itself with Artprice - the world leader in art market information - in order to promote China's legitimate art market supremacy through the statistical auction data prism that Artprice has imposed on the art market as world leader since 1987.

In exchange, Artron will open the door of "Greater China" to Artprice, allowing it to develop a very strong position for its various business activities in the region alongside a powerful ally and leader in this vast territory.

The know-how of AMMA -Art Market Monitor of Artron- in processing and analysing China's market data and information will ultimately allow Artprice to analyse and decipher the mechanisms of the global art market without any cultural bias. The same is true for Artron whose skills (catalogues, publications, Chinese market data flows and comprehensive databases on the Chinese art market) are perfectly complementary to Artprice's activities. Indeed, based on their respective skills, the two firms will be able to enrich each other's areas of expertise (databases, economic analyses, Standardised Marketplaces, art market econometrics) and will consolidate their already vital roles in the growth and development of the global art market.

The dialogue initiated in the framework of the preparation of Artprice's Annual Art Market Report in early March 2013 is a perfect illustration of the natural alliance between know-how of two companies, both leaders in their respective fields and segments.

As a result of this exclusive alliance, Artprice will be able to diffuse an economically fair and balanced view of the art market in both Asia and the West through its global networks. The alliance with Artron will allow Artprice to apprehend the Asian market with knowledge and information that Artron has taken over 20 years to acquire and develop. This alliance is strictly non-competitive since Artron's activity sectors (publishers, support for Chinese auction operators, newsflows on local art scenes, etc.) are specific to China and are not the same as Artprice's.

The historical objective of AMMA -Art Market Monitor of Artron- and Artprice is to generate major global synergies in the field of art market data analysis and the production of information that is adapted to today's bipolar art market.

About AMMA, a subsidiary of GROUPE Artron

AMMA -Art Market Monitor of Artron- is a subsidiary of GROUPE Artron. AMMA is a research center committed to comprehensive monitoring and in-depth analysis of the Chinese Art Market. The research and advisory services are sourced from Artron's database, recognized as the largest and most credible database on the Chinese art market with more than 2.5 million artworks listed and auction results from all over China. For each artwork listed the database contains high definition images and is supplemented with information from more than 500 auction houses ever since China Guardian commenced auction activities in China in 1993. Using statistical and econometric methodology, AMMA observes the price trends of the Chinese art market as well as the specific movements regarding particular specialty markets, categories or artists. AMMA also provides data analysis, technical valuations and pricing advice. It also organizes seminars for individual and institutional customers.

ARTPRICE has joined the prestigious SBF 120 index. The SBF 120 index is composed of the 120 largest French listed companies, including the CAC 40 companies and the country's 80 most liquid stocks.The current liquidity of the Artprice share is 3.83 million euros per day calculated over 440 trading days (amounting to a total of 1.688 billion euros).

Artprice is the global leader in databank on Artprices and indices with more than 27 million indices and auction results covering more than 500,000 artists. Artprice Images® offers unlimited access to the largest Art Market resource in the world, a library of 108 million images or engravings of artworks from 1700 to the present day along with comments by Artprice's art historians. Artprice permanently enriches its databanks with information from 4,500 international auction houses and auctioneers and publishes a constant flow of art market trends for the main news agencies and 6,300 international written media. For its 2.072 million members (member log in), Artprice posts standardized adverts in what is today the world's leading Standardised Marketplace® for buying and selling works of art by private contract or at auctions -regulated by French law alinéas 2 et 3 de l'article L 321.3 du code du commerce-

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Artprice is listed on Eurolist B SBF 120 by Euronext Paris (SRD long only): Euroclear: 7478 - Bloomberg: PRC - Reuters: ARTF

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Contact: Josette Mey, tel: +33(0)478-220-000, e-mail: [email protected]

SOURCE Artprice.com