NEW YORK, Aug. 14 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Capital IQ, a division of Standard & Poor's and the leader in web-based professional financial information services, announced that its client base has doubled in the past two years to more than 2,000 firms and that it is rapidly expanding its business to capture opportunities in Europe, Australia/New Zealand, and the greater Asia-Pacific region. Driving this growth is Capital IQ's thriving business working with investment firms, particularly hedge funds, mutual funds, and private equity firms.

"Our offering has become an essential part of the workflow for many financial professionals at the leading investment banks, investment managers, and private equity firms in North America. We see tremendous opportunities for additional growth around the world, particularly in Europe, Australia/New Zealand, and the greater Asia-Pacific region," said Randall Winn, Managing Director of Capital IQ.

To support its growth, Capital IQ has expanded its London office as well as opened up new research centers in Asia and South America to globalize its content sets. Capital IQ's data coverage now includes 98% of the world's public companies by market capitalization and an additional universe of more than 600,000 private companies and 1,000,000 executives. Capital IQ has also recently released new content and functionality including real-time quotes and news, credit ratings and research, debt capital structure data, screening alerts, public ownership data, corporate tree, and macroeconomic data. Upcoming enhancements include a mobile version of Capital IQ, takeover defense data, equity ownership screening, and more.

"Rapid globalization and innovations in the financial markets are driving the need for financial professionals to be able to quickly research and analyze any company in the world from equity, credit, and M&A perspectives," said Mr. Winn. "We have invested heavily to globalize our content sets and are now poised to significantly expand our business."

About Capital IQ and Standard & Poor's

Capital IQ, a division of Standard & Poor's, provides high-impact information and workflow solutions to over 2,000 leading financial institutions, advisory firms, and corporations. Its solutions are based on the Capital IQ Platform, a unique combination of global private and public capital market data and technology that enables end-users to draw deep market insights, generate better ideas, leverage relationships, and simplify workflow. Clients can deploy the Capital IQ Platform either as a standalone solution or seamlessly integrate its components into existing business applications and portals via systems integration and data feeds. For more information, please visit Capital IQ's web site at http://www.capitaliq.com/.

Standard & Poor's, a division of The McGraw-Hill Companies (NYSE:MHP) , is the world's foremost provider of financial market intelligence, including independent credit ratings, indices, risk evaluation, investment research and data. With approximately 8,500 employees, including wholly owned affiliates, located in 21 countries, Standard & Poor's is an essential part of the world's financial infrastructure and has played a leading role for more than 140 years in providing investors with the independent benchmarks they need to feel more confident about their investment and financial decisions. For more information, visit http://www.standardandpoors.com/.

CONTACT:

Seung Bak
+1-212-438-8687
sbak@capitaliq.com

Kate Zimmerman
+1-212-751-3375
kzimmerman@groupsjr.com