Griffin Advises Realpoint, LLC in Sale to Morningstar, Inc. for $52 Million

Company Overview
Realpoint is a Horsham, PA, based credit rating agency that specializes in structured finance. One of only 10 Nationally Recognized Credit Ratings Organizations (NRSRO), Realpoint currently offers securities ratings, research, surveillance services and data to help institutional investors identify credit risk in commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS). More than 225 institutional investment firms subscribe to Realpoint’s trusted ratings and analytics, including the majority of money managers who invest in CMBS.

Situation
The management team of Realpoint acquired the company from Capmark Investments, LP in August, 2007 (MBO). Realpoint was founded by Capmark’s predecessor in 2000. Having successfully obtained NRSRO status from the Securities and Exchange Commission in June 2008, Realpoint focused on launching new products and expansion into ancillary structured finance markets, such as residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS). These initiatives required substantial additional capital to support the necessary increase in organizational infrastructure and data resources.

Solution
Griffin was very familiar with Realpoint, having initially acted as financial advisor to management on the MBO, and thereafter advising Realpoint’s Board of Directors on various matters. Griffin assisted Realpoint with the construction and analysis of a series of strategic options to fund Realpoint’s growth plans. Ultimately, this led to discussions with Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ: MORN), a leading provider of independent investment research in North America, Europe, Australia and Asia. When it became clear that the combination of Morningstar and Realpoint made strategic sense on many levels, Griffin negotiated the structure and terms of the $52 million Realpoint acquisition with Morningstar.

For more information on this transaction, please contact John A. Lee, Senior Managing Director, at 610.205.6106.