ROCKVILLE, MD, BRUSSELS, BELGIUM and LONDON - Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS), the world's leading provider of proxy voting and corporate governance solutions, today announced that Deminor International, the well-known minority shareholder advocacy firm based in Brussels has sold its corporate governance unit to ISS. The combined company will form the foundation of ISS Europe, headquartered in Brussels with offices in Paris and Amsterdam.

"ISS is 100% committed to enabling the business of corporate governance by helping investors manage risk and drive value," said John M. Connolly, president and chief executive officer of ISS. "We have been a global player since 1991 and we understand the increasingly complex needs of our institutional clients. By integrating Europe's leading corporate governance firm into ISS' global operation, we'll be able to deliver a deeper level of European market expertise and on the ground service to our clients."

Founded in 1985, ISS has over 1270 institutional clients worldwide that manage more that $23 trillion of the world's equity. The firm provides comprehensive research and informed proxy voting recommendations on more than 28,000 companies across 102 markets and offers the industry's only integrated end-to-end voting solution. ISS Europe will serve as the hub for ISS' European operations and will provide in-market service and expertise to the combined set of ISS and Deminor Ratings clients.

"Merging with ISS gives us the global scope and capabilities to offer corporate governance and proxy voting services to clients worldwide, meeting the high quality standards required by Deminor Rating clients," said Jean-Nicolas Caprasse, managing director of the newly formed ISS Europe.

ISS sees the European corporate governance growing rapidly, especially in France and the Netherlands. The firm estimates the market size for corporate governance and proxy voting services in Europe to be almost $100 million, about 26% of the world's total. More importantly, institutional clients need a corporate governance partner that can help them navigate and effectively execute their voting rights in global markets. ISS Europe's research will cover approximately 3700 companies across 17 countries. The staff of 35 speaks 15 languages and will be led by Jean-Nicolas Caprasse, a co-founding Deminor partner who will now serve as managing director of ISS Europe.

"Jean-Nicolas is an outstanding business leader and well respected corporate governance professional," commented Connolly. "I'm very pleased to welcome such a high caliber individual to ISS' management team."

Established in 1990, Deminor International is a Belgium-based partnership primarily focused on providing active engagement for investors. The firm is managed by six executive partners and is focused on ensuring fair and equal treatment for shareholders and maximizing the long-term value of minority stakes.

"This transaction will allow Deminor International to focus on its core business in Europe, while providing the corporate governance unit a better opportunity to grow," said Deminor partner Pierre Nothomb. "At the same time, we believe that in choosing to sell to a global leader like ISS, corporate governance standards will be raised in many ways, driving value for shareholders of all size."

When the combination of Deminor Rating and Institutional Shareholder Services is complete in 2006, clients will enjoy significant benefits including a "best of both" research product, solutions designed with local market interests in mind, straight-through vote processing, European market expertise and service, as well as access to an expanded suite of corporate governance solutions globally.

About Institutional Shareholder Services
ISS is the world's leading provider of corporate governance and proxy voting solutions. ISS provides proxy research, voting services and corporate governance advisory services to financial institutions and corporations worldwide. Founded in 1985, ISS is headquartered in Maryland and has offices in New York, London, Toronto, Tokyo, Manila and Chicago.

About Deminor
Deminor is an independent consulting practice offering a wide range of services to shareholders of listed and non-listed companies. It was founded in 1990 as an independent partnership and has offices in Amsterdam, Brussels, Frankfurt, Luxembourg, Milan, Paris and recently opened a branch in Geneva.

Deminor Rating, a dedicated subsidiary of Deminor International, is a leading proxy advisory and corporate governance rating agency. It provides corporate governance voting, research, ratings and advice to institutional investors and market authorities. It is comprised of a multidisciplinary international team of professionals skilled in corporate governance, corporate finance, laws and communications.

Risk Metrics Group, The

Risk Metrics Group, The

Since 1985, Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) has met the diverse and rapidly evolving needs of the institutional investor community by delivering leading proxy voting and corporate governance solutions. ISS responds to the evolution of the corporate governance market by providing a broad choice of products and solutions, a global network of local experts and the industry's only integrated end-to-end platform to facilitate research distribution and vote execution through a single interface. ISS is a wholly-owned subsidiary of RiskMetrics Group. RiskMetrics Group and ISS have more than 900 employees across 23 offices serving over 2,400 clients worldwide. Together, we are working to innovate solutions that enable institutional investors to effectively manage risk through a broad range of environmental, social and governance data, research, analytics and modeling.

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