The McGraw-Hill Companies Announces Organizational and Management Changes to Drive Growth and Innovation

NEW YORK, Nov. 15, 2010 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The McGraw-Hill Companies (NYSE: MHP) today announced organizational and management changes to drive global growth and innovation.

• The current Financial Services segment will be realigned into two separate segments:
  • Standard & Poor's -- the leading credit ratings company -- with Deven Sharma as President, and
  • McGraw-Hill Financial -- combining leading brands and businesses such as S&P Indices, Capital IQ, Valuations & Risk Strategies and MarketScope Advisor -- with Lou Eccleston as President.  
• Jack F. Callahan, Jr., who most recently served as CFO at Dean Foods and in senior management roles at PepsiCo, General Electric Company and McKinsey & Company, will become Executive Vice President and CFO of The McGraw-Hill Companies, succeeding Robert J. Bahash.
• Robert J. Bahash will become the new President of McGraw-Hill Education.  

New Segments Will Better Serve Global Investors

"The establishment of McGraw-Hill Financial under Lou Eccleston is the culmination of actions taken over the past two years to harness the power of our financial information, data and analytics and to organize them on a common sales and marketing platform," said Harold McGraw III, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of The McGraw-Hill Companies.  "This change will enhance our ability to deliver a broad and deep suite of products for investors across asset classes around the world, positioning us to capitalize on the growth trends we see in the global financial markets."

In 2008, Mr. Eccleston joined Standard & Poor's to lead the newly formed unit, Fixed Income Risk Management Services (FIRMS), designed to give customers new and innovative ways to manage investment and trading strategies.  Recent introductions from that unit include Risk2Price, which helps investors determine whether they are being adequately compensated for risk, and the Credit Health Panel, a new way to look at the financial health of a company relative to its peers.  McGraw-Hill Financial plans to deploy the most innovative technology strategies to deliver to customers a portfolio of cross-asset analytics, integrated desktop services, valuation and index benchmarks and investment recommendations in the rapidly growing $16 billion financial information, data and analytics market.

Mr. Eccleston said, "I am excited to lead this new segment, McGraw-Hill Financial, which will be a faster, more powerful organization combining desktop, market and credit capabilities to create differentiated solutions for customers."  

Before joining Standard & Poor's in 2008, Mr. Eccleston was Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Pivot Inc., a leading provider of communications networks for institutional investors.  Previously, he served as President of Global Sales, Marketing and Services for Thomson Financial, managing the integration of separate sales, service and marketing operations around the world into one globally coordinated entity.  Before that, Mr. Eccleston was a managing director with Bloomberg L.P.

This organizational change will enable the other new segment, Standard & Poor's, to focus on creating enhanced credit risk benchmarks and research for the expanding global markets in the new and evolving regulatory environment.  It reflects Standard & Poor's commitment to providing independent, timely and quality credit ratings and research opinions.

Mr. Sharma, the President of Standard & Poor's said, "As the capital markets develop and grow, we will continue to build out our ratings capabilities and insights to help investors navigate risks around the world."

Mr. Sharma joined Standard & Poor's in 2006 as Executive Vice President, Investment Services and Global Sales, and was named President in 2007.  Before joining Standard & Poor's, he was Executive Vice President, Global Strategy at The McGraw-Hill Companies for five years.  Mr. Sharma joined The McGraw-Hill Companies in 2002 from Booz Allen Hamilton, a global management consulting company, where he was a partner.

New Leaders for Finance and McGraw-Hill Education

Mr. McGraw said, "I am extremely pleased to welcome Jack Callahan to the company as Chief Financial Officer.  He is a creative and dynamic leader with a proven record of success in financial and operational positions around the world, including Asia and South America."

Mr. Callahan, who will join the Corporation December 7, had been CFO of Dean Foods from 2006 until earlier this month and before served in senior management positions at PepsiCo, including CFO of Frito-Lay International.  Previously, he worked in senior roles at General Electric Company and McKinsey & Company.

Mr. McGraw added, "Bob Bahash will be bringing his strong managerial skills and leadership to McGraw-Hill Education.  He has been a key member of our corporate team, which is focusing on global expansion and digital innovation in education services."

Mr. Bahash has been CFO of The McGraw-Hill Companies since 1988.  In addition, he was responsible for managing information technology corporate-wide, including the direction of the Corporation's digital strategy.  Previously, he was Senior Vice President Finance and Manufacturing.  Before that, Mr. Bahash served in leadership positions at McGraw-Hill Education in the U.S. and internationally.  

The President of McGraw-Hill Education, Peter Davis, has left the Corporation to pursue other career opportunities.  

Mr. McGraw said, "I want to thank Pete Davis for his many contributions to The McGraw-Hill Companies.  He has been a valued colleague and leader and we all wish him well in his future career."

Reporting Structure

Currently The McGraw-Hill Companies reports its results in three segments:

• Financial Services, which includes:
  • Standard & Poor's Credit Market Services
  • S&P Investment Services (Capital IQ, S&P Indices, Valuation & Risk Strategies and Equity Research Services)
• McGraw-Hill Education
• Information & Media

Beginning January 1, 2011, The McGraw-Hill Companies' reporting segments will be:

• Standard & Poor's, the leading credit ratings company
• McGraw-Hill Financial, combining Capital IQ, S&P Indices, Valuation & Risk Strategies and Equity Research Services into one powerful company
• McGraw-Hill Education, the world's premier education services company
• McGraw-Hill Information & Media, a global business information company

As a result, the Corporation will provide more information about the financial segments.  When The McGraw-Hill Companies reports its fourth-quarter 2010 results, it plans to provide pro forma quarterly and full-year 2009 and 2010 revenues and operating profit for each of the two new financial segments.    

About The McGraw-Hill Companies

Founded in 1888, The McGraw-Hill Companies is a leading global education and financial information company that plays a crucial role in the knowledge economy with leading brands such as Standard & Poor's, McGraw-Hill Education, Platts energy information services and J.D. Power and Associates. The Corporation has approximately 21,000 employees with more than 280 offices in 40 countries. Additional information is available at http://www.mcgraw-hill.com.

Investor Relations: http://www.mcgraw-hill.com/investor_relations

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Release issued:  November 15, 2010

SOURCE The McGraw-Hill Companies