Acquisition by IHS. A seismic shift?
Jinfo Blog

By Jan Knight

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IHS, a leading information provider, has been referred to this week as a “data and analysis conglomerate” as it made its biggest acquisition since its founding in 1959. Even Richard O’Brien, the original founder, could have hardly imagined spending $500 million to acquire Seismic Micro-Technology (SMT), a geosciences software solution company. This latest purchase marks a series of acquisitions and the sixth company acquired this year alone.

IHS is described as the leading global source of information for a variety of pivotal industries, and its areas of expertise include: energy and power, design and supply chain, defence, risk and security, environmental health and safety (EHS) and sustainability. The company's clients in both business and government are able to access comprehensive content and expert independent analysis to help them make better informed decisions.

Seismic Micro-Technology, founded in 1984, provides innovative software to geoscientists in over 95 countries. Its fully integrated software for engineering, geology and geophysics industries is easy to learn, easy to use and aids in productivity.

The addition of SMT to the IHS family will, according to Jerre Stead, Chairman and CEO of IHS, “increase the ability of IHS to offer mission-critical geosciences software and data products to customers in their largest end market, energy”. With 171 employees and more than 3,000 customers globally, SMT has, according to a MarketWatch release, earned a loyal following for its software platforms that boast great ease of use and mobility. The release also states that this “combination of highly complementary assets” will result in enhanced options for customers.

Having gone public in 2005, IHS currently employs over 5,000 people in more than 30 countries. Founded originally as a provider of product catalogue databases on microfilm for aerospace engineers, the company has indeed grown to serve a diverse set of industries in a global environment.

Both companies are leaders in their fields and CEO Stead is quoted as saying that together “they can provide a more robust, valuable and integrated solution set of information, software and insight resulting in more options for energy customers worldwide”.

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