Rockville, Md.-based Institutional Shareholder Services has solidified its position as the industry’s dominant proxy advisory firm with the purchase of the commercial business of its rival, Washington, D.C.-based Investor Responsibility Research Center.
ISS agreed to buy the commercial proxy voting, research and screening business of IRRC in a cash deal valued in excess of $10 million. Proceeds from the sale will be used to establish the IRRC Institute for Corporate Responsibility, an independent think tank that Cheryl Gustitus, ISS’s senior vice president of communications, describes as “a sort of Brookings Institution for corporate responsibility.” ISS will provide ongoing in-kind contributions to the institute for five years.
