NEW YORK, March 27, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Platts' Dan Tanz, recently retired vice president of editorial, was honored today by the Association of Business Information & Media Companies (ABM) with its distinguished G.D. Crain, Jr. Award. The venerable award is given annually to an individual who has made outstanding contributions to the development of editorial excellence in business media and maintaining the highest of editorial standards, while advancing ABM's tradition of editorial initiative, leadership, and integrity.

"Over the course of his 33-year career at Platts, Tanz worked tirelessly to uphold the highest standards of editorial excellence and not only championed, but helped secure greater transparency in what had been opaque markets," said Larry Neal, president of Platts, a leading global provider of energy and commodities markets and a premier source of benchmark price information.

As Platts' business grew exponentially during that time, Tanz oversaw the expansion of the editorial team to more than 500 staff in 16 offices around the world, widening Platts' global reach and coverage while maintaining the team's independence. Platts is a unit of McGraw Hill Financial (NYSE: MHFI).

Tanz, who joined McGraw Hill's Energy and Business Newsletter Group in 1981, served as its general manager from 1998 until 2000 when it was merged into Platts. He held a managerial position for the merged group for two years, and then was appointed vice president, editorial. Platts grew steadily as a leading global provider of information and benchmark price references in energy and commodities, securing many "firsts" in breaking news, market analysis, and solutions to pricing challenges in evolving markets of energy, petrochemicals, metals and most recently, agriculture.

"All of us at Platts congratulate Dan on receiving this prestigious award," said Neal. "We thank him for his steadfast leadership and integrity, and the positive influence he has had not just on Platts, but on bringing greater transparency to and understanding of the entire commodities information space."

"Committed to editorial excellence and editorial independence, Dan was a constant beacon--lighting the way to ideals that will always shine brightly," said Joe Innace, Platts global editorial director of metals. "A special thanks to the Neal Awards committee for recognizing such brilliance over the course of a distinguished career."

For more information on Platts, visit www.platts.com.

About Platts: Founded in 1909, Platts is a leading global provider of energy, petrochemicals, metals and agriculture information and a premier source of benchmark prices for the physical and futures markets. Platts' news, pricing, analytics, commentary and conferences help customers make better-informed trading and business decisions and help the markets operate with greater transparency and efficiency. Customers in more than 150 countries benefit from Platts' coverage of the biofuels, carbon emissions, coal, electricity, oil, natural gas, metals, nuclear power, petrochemical, shipping and sugar markets. A division of McGraw Hill Financial (NYSE: MHFI), Platts is based in London with more than 1000 employees in more than 15 offices worldwide. Additional information is available at www.platts.com.

About McGraw Hill Financial: McGraw Hill Financial (NYSE: MHFI) is a leading financial intelligence company providing the global capital and commodity markets with independent benchmarks, credit ratings, portfolio and enterprise risk solutions, and analytics. The Company's iconic brands include: Standard & Poor's Ratings Services, S&P Capital IQ, S&P Dow Jones Indices, Platts, CRISIL and J.D. Power. The Company has approximately 17,000 employees in 30 countries. Additional information is available at www.mhfi.com.

Media contact: Global: Kathleen Tanzy: +1 212 904 2860, kathleen.tanzy@platts.com

SOURCE Platts

SOURCE: Platts