September 8, 2017
ISS Sold Again! (Management to Remain Intact)
ISS announced yesterday that it’s changing hands – for the fifth time in the past 15 years or so. Genstar Capital, a San Francisco-based private equity firm, is buying the company from the previous PE owner – Vestar Capital Partners – for $720 million.
The ISS press release gives a few details on the expected timing & transition plans:
The transaction is expected to close by early fourth quarter, subject to customary closing conditions.
ISS will continue to operate independently once the transaction is completed and the current ISS executive leadership team will remain in place.
Based on the press release, Genstar has some experience in backing service providers in the financial services sector – and plans to continue ISS’s strategic infrastructure & ESG initiatives.
Blockchain: Here Come the Early Adopters
According to this Bloomberg article, Delaware’s enactment of amendments permitting companies to use blockchain technology for corporate records is already attracting potential early adopters among privately-held companies. Here’s an excerpt:
Medici Ventures Inc.—a venture capital arm of online retailer Overstock.com Inc. that invests in blockchain companies—plans to become one of the early adopters. “Medici Ventures is very excited about the possibilities this forward-thinking legislation from Delaware affords corporations, and plans to offer its shares and begin managing its shareholder records on the blockchain as soon as possible,” Medici Ventures President and Overstock.com board member Jonathan Johnson told Bloomberg BNA in an Aug. 10 statement.
Medici Ventures is an investor in Symbiont, a New York-based financial services firm that is working with Delaware on the infrastructure to support corporate record keeping on a blockchain throughout the company’s life. The Overstock.com subsidiary is one of about two dozen private companies that have expressed interest in using Delaware’s blockchain law.
The article says that – so far – it’s law firms that have expressed the most interest in blockchain technology.
Transcript: “Controlled Companies – Trends & Unique Issues”
We have posted the transcript for our recent webcast: “Controlled Companies – Trends & Unique Issues.”
– Liz Dunshee