LONDON, July 16, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Platts, a leading global energy, metals, petrochemicals and agriculture information provider, announced today that it has acquired Petromedia, a specialist provider of news and analysis for the shipping and oil industries. The purchase helps extend Platts coverage beyond traditional marine fuels and market fundamentals.

Founded in 2001, Petromedia provides customers with access to up-to-date news, daily prices and analysis on the global shipping and oil markets, including services to help manage counterparty risk, marine fuel quality monitoring, alternative marine fuel and technology awareness, and a bunker procurement platform.

Andy Bose, general manager for petroleum at Platts, said: "Bunker fuel is a key link in this chain accounting for 70% of operational costs of waterborne commodity movement. The acquisition of Petromedia extends our bunker coverage beyond price discovery and market fundamentals. Together, we can better serve our customers with new, inventive solutions to address the growing challenges of this dynamic and evolving market."

Matt Cape, CEO of Petromedia, said: "We are excited to join the Platts team who can provide the expertise and scale to help Petromedia accelerate and broaden our product development as complexities within the shipping and oil markets continue to evolve."

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, Platts is based in London with more than 1,000 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.

Forward-Looking Statements: This press release contains "forward-looking statements," as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements, which express management's current views concerning future events, trends, contingencies or results, appear at various places throughout this release and use words like "anticipate," "assume," "believe," "continue," "estimate," "expect," "forecast," "future," "intend," "plan," "potential," "predict," "project," "strategy," "target" and similar terms, and future or conditional tense verbs like "could," "may," "might," "should," "will" and "would." For example, we may use forward-looking statements when addressing topics such as: the outcome of contingencies; changes in our business strategies and methods of generating revenue; the development and performance of our services and products; the expected impact of acquisitions; and our cost structure, cash flows or liquidity.

Forward-looking statements are subject to inherent risks and uncertainties. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in our forward-looking statements include, among other things:

    --  the volatility of the energy marketplace;
    --  worldwide economic, financial, political and regulatory conditions;
    --  concerns in the marketplace affecting our credibility or otherwise
        affecting market perceptions of the integrity or utility of our products
        and services;
    --  our ability to maintain adequate physical, technical and administrative 
        safeguards to protect the security of confidential  information  and
        data, and the potential of a system or network disruption that results
        in regulatory penalties, remedial costs and/or improper disclosure of
        confidential information or data;
    --  the effect of competitive products and pricing;
    --  consolidation in our end-customer market;
    --  the health of the commodities markets;
    --  the level of success of new product development and global expansion;
    --  our ability to integrate, and realize expected synergies, savings or
        benefits from the businesses we acquire;
    --  the level of our capital investments;
    --  our ability to successfully recover should we experience a disaster or
        other business continuity  problem, such as a hurricane, flood, 
        earthquake, terrorist attack, pandemic, security breach, cyber-attack,
        power loss, telecommunications failure or other natural or man-made
        disaster; and
    --  our exposure to potential criminal sanctions or civil remedies if we
        fail to comply with foreign and U.S. laws and regulations that are
        applicable in the domestic and international jurisdictions in which
        operate.

The factors above are not exhaustive. McGraw Hill Financial and its subsidiaries operate in a dynamic business environment in which new risks may emerge frequently. Accordingly, we caution readers not to place undue reliance on the above forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the dates on which they are made. McGraw Hill Financial and its subsidiaries undertake no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement to reflect events or circumstances arising after the date on which it is made. Further information about our businesses, including information about factors that could materially affect our results of operations and financial condition, is contained in McGraw Hill Financial's filings with the SEC, including Item 1a, Risk Factors, in our most recently filed Annual Report on Form 10- K.

CONTACT
Global, Americas: Kathleen Tanzy, + 1 917 331 4607, kathleen.tanzy@platts.com

SOURCE Platts

SOURCE: Platts