S&P Global Market Intelligence Enters into Strategic Alliance to Transition IR Webhosting Business to Q4 Inc.

NEW YORK and TORONTO, Jan. 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- S&P Global Market Intelligence (S&P), a division of S&P Global (NYSE: SPGI) and provider of data, essential insights, and powerful analytics, and Q4 Inc. (Q4), a leading global provider of cloud-based investor relations solutions, announced today a strategic alliance to transition S&P Global Market Intelligence's Investor Relations (IR) webhosting business to Q4.

The strategic alliance allows both parties to concentrate on their core competencies, ensuring existing and future clients have access to industry-leading IR tools, data and services. 

"Since the founding of Q4, we've been committed to innovation and delivering the highest level of customer experience through our products, data and partnerships. This new strategic alliance  helps to strengthen this commitment and allows us to more deeply serve our clients across a broader set of industries, including financial services, banking and REITs," said Darrell Heaps, CEO of Q4. "Over the last few months, we have worked hard to understand the needs of S&P's IR webhosting clients and we look forward to welcoming them to Q4 and our innovative IR success model." 

"We are excited to work with Q4, which has demonstrated a proven track record of providing industry-leading investor relations solutions, technology and analytics to public companies across multiple sectors," said Greg Gartland, Chief Product Officer, S&P Global Market Intelligence. "This strategic alliance with Q4 will not only better serve our clients webhosting requirements, but also will allow S&P to enhance and add to the strategic workflow solutions we offer to investor relations officers and their staffs."

This alliance will also integrate S&P's proprietary data into Q4's portfolio of solutions, enabling further opportunities for commercial collaboration. In connection with transitioning its IR webhosting business to Q4, S&P has made a minority investment in Q4. Additional terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

S&P Global 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 report 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:

• worldwide economic, 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, Market Intelligence, Platts and Indices, including new and amended regulations and the Company's compliance therewith;
• the Company's ability to maintain adequate physical, technical and administrative safeguards to protect the security of confidential information and data, and the potential for unauthorized access to our systems or a system or network disruption that results in improper disclosure of confidential information or data, regulatory penalties and remedial costs;
• our 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 impact of customer cost-cutting pressures, including in the financial services industry and 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 and the health of the commodities markets;
• our ability to attract, incentivize and retain key employees;
• our 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 our credit rating activities and other European and United Kingdom offerings;
• 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;
• changes in applicable tax or accounting requirements, including the impact of recent tax reform in the U.S.;
• 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 Item 1a, Risk Factors, in the Annual Report on Form 10-K.

About Q4 Inc.

Q4 is a leading global provider of cloud-based investor relations, with the mission of partnering with customers to achieve their strategic IR objectives. Through best-in-class customer experience and an innovative suite of IR technology, Q4 is a trusted partner to over 2,000 of the world's largest brands. Q4's comprehensive portfolio of IR communications and intelligence solutions, supported by an industry-leading customer experience model, empower customers to build impactful and strategic IR programs. Q4 has offices in New York, Toronto, Copenhagen, and London. To learn more, visit: www.q4inc.com.

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 21,000 employees in 35 countries. For more information visit www.spglobal.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, a division of S&P Global (NYSE: SPGI), provides essential intelligence for individuals, companies and governments to make decisions with confidence.

For more information, visit www.spglobal.com.

SOURCE S&P Global

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