Glass Lewis, a provider of governance data and proxy voting services, has agreed to acquire Esgaia, a Sweden-based platform that specialises in data and workflow solutions for institutional investment stewardship.
The financial terms of the deal were not revealed.
This acquisition seeks to strengthen Glass Lewis’ capabilities in markets such as Europe and Australia, where comprehensive proxy voting and engagement with issuers are fundamental to investment stewardship.
Glass Lewis CEO Bob Mann said: “The importance of investment stewardship is increasing in all markets, but nowhere is it more ingrained in the investment process than in Europe.
“We’re excited to leverage our acquisition of Esgaia to accelerate our integration of corporate governance research, proxy voting and issuer engagement data into a single platform, and by doing so, help institutional asset managers and pension funds be more effective stewards of capital.”
The deal follows a three-year collaboration between the US-based Glass Lewis and Esgaia, during which they jointly offered clients access to the latter’s platform. This partnership was focused on assisting institutional investors in managing their engagement activities more efficiently by utilising Esgaia’s technology for tracking and reporting.
Esgaia founder and CEO Anton Ljung said: “Working collaboratively to bring clients’ voting and engagement data together into one platform, we can streamline clients’ workflows and simplify their reporting.
“We are excited to join Glass Lewis and gain the scale needed to bring Esgaia’s purpose-built platform to a broader audience of institutional investors, helping them to drive better outcomes for their clients.”
Esgaia, established in 2021, provides a cloud-based system designed for institutional investors to oversee issuer engagement initiatives. The company was founded to address inefficiencies in data management and workflows, as well as to meet rising global standards that demand greater transparency from investors.
Its solution allows for streamlined processes, enabling investors to manage engagements with portfolio companies more effectively.
Historically, investors have relied on manual processes such as spreadsheets for engagement tracking. Esgaia’s product suite is said to reduce reliance on these methods by offering integrated data solutions that facilitate better handling of engagement data.
The completion of the acquisition is pending regulatory approval.
