06:31 PM
Risk Newsflashes
RiskMetrics Group Receives $122 million From Private-Equity Investors A group of private equity investors has agreed to invest a total of $122 million in RiskMetrics Group in a plan to re-capitalize the company. The group is led by Spectrum Equity Investors, together with General Atlantic Partners and Technology CrossoverVentures.
Recognizing the growth in the market for financial risk-management products and services, this group of investors was drawn to RiskMetrics Group for its industry-leading methodology and its wide range of service offerings for both institutional and retail clientele, states the release.
The transaction provides liquidity to selling shareholders while enabling the company to continue to invest and serve customers with solutions.
"RiskMetrics Group is the leading provider of risk analytics to blue-chip financial institutions and more recently has established itself as the market leader for hedge fund and other alternative investment managers -- in effect, the equivalent of a ratings agency for complex securities," states William Collatos, founder and general partner of Spectrum Equity Investors.
Spun out of JPMorgan in September 1998, RiskMetrics Group has been growing at a compound annual return of 65 percent over the last three years, and it is strongly profitable, says the company. The new investment will allow the firm to rapidly advance its strategy of delivering a wide range of middle-office services -- such as risk management, data management and risk reporting -- to asset managers, banks, corporate treasuries, hedge funds, insurance companies, pension funds and regulators.