Leading proxy advisory firm, Institutional Shareholder Services Inc. (ISS), may be for sale.
ISS announced today that the board of its parent company, MSCI Inc., has authorized the exploration of strategic alternatives for ISS. The firm says that this announcement represents the start of a process that may eventually lead to a full divestiture of ISS by MSCI.
At the same time, it cautions that the process of exploring strategic alternatives will not necessarily result in a transaction. ISS also says that it does not expect MSCI to disclose further developments until a definitive decision is reached on a specific transaction, or the process of exploring alternatives concludes.
“The senior ISS management team is very supportive of MSCI’s decision and confident about the future prospects of the business,” said ISS president, Gary Retelny. In the meantime, he said that the current ISS management team will remain in place and that it will continue to build its business.
Morgan Stanley is serving as financial advisor to MSCI.