On Monday, IHS stockholders and Markit shareholders each approved the merger-related proposals presented to them at IHS’s special meeting of the stockholders and Markit’s special general meeting of the shareholders, respectively.
At Markit's special general meeting of shareholders, Markit shareholders approved three main proposals. The first of these was to issue Markit common shares in connection with the merger, while the second was to amend and restate the bye-laws of Markit. Thirdly, they agreed to change the name of “Markit Ltd.” to “IHS Markit Ltd.”
Over 99% of the voting shareholders, representing over 91% of the outstanding Markit shares, voted in favour of each of the proposals.
At IHS's special meeting of stockholders, 99% of the voting stockholders, representing 84% of the outstanding IHS shares, voted in favour of the proposal to adopt the merger agreement. They also agreed, on an advisory (and therefore non-binding) basis, a “specified compensatory arrangement between IHS and its named executive officers relating to the transactions contemplated by the merger agreement”.
Upon closing of the merger, IHS Markit Ltd. was listed on the Nasdaq Global Select Market. Trading under the new symbol “INFO” is expected began on Wednesday. The combined firm has its headquarters in London, but also has key operations in Englewood, Colorado.
IHS shareholders own 57% and Markit shareholders own 43% of the combined company on a fully diluted basis.
In March, IHS and Markit said they had signed a definitive agreement to join forces in an all-share ‘merger of equals’. This, they said, would create a global leader in critical information, analytics and solutions. At that stage, the transaction was unanimously approved by the board of directors of each company.
The two firms believe they will generate $100m of extra cross-sales revenue before the end of 2019 as result of the link-up. Although IHS has had little focus on derivatives up to now, sources close to the deal have noted that Markit’s CDS analysis could be of particular interest to IHS corporate clients in energy and commodities, which have been big sectors for both firms.
For energy firms, the benefits of such analysis could be in understanding both their own credit risks and that of counterparties to trades. Future product development plans following the IHS/Markit merger look set to include energy indices. As well as the creation of indices, Markit expects overlays for use in the exchange traded fund market.