BEIJING (XFN-ASIA) - Xinhua Finance has purchased a 19.9 pct stake in investment research and advisory firm Glass, Lewis & Co.
Xinhua Finance said the acquisition would advance its efforts to bring transparency and corporate governance to China and also of introducing products and services to facilitate investment in the country.
Glass, Lewis, which was founded in 2003 and is headquartered in San Francisco, focuses on identifying business, legal, governance and financial statement risk at public companies.
'We see demand for the services Glass, Lewis provides as foreign investment in China's public companies is increasing dramatically through the Qualified Foreign Institutional Investor mandates,' Xinhua Finance chief executive Fredy Bush said in a statement.
'China's public companies have complicated shareholding structures -- including state-owned shares, legal person shares and free float shares -- which can make the voting process for a foreign investor very complicated,' she added.
No financial details of the transaction were provided in a joint statement issued by the companies.
Xinhua Finance is a financial information and media firm and is the owner of the Xinhua Finance Newswire.
will.davies@xinhuafinance.com
© 2006 AFX News
