In Mumbai to make this announcement was Kathleen A. Corbet, president of Standard & Poor's. Accompanying her were Vickie A. Tilman, executive vice president, credit market services and Thomas G. Schiller, executive managing director, Asia Pacific.

S&P, a division of The McGraw-Hill Companies, is a top-ranking provider of independent credit ratings, indices, risk evaluation, investment research, data and valuations. A 140-year-old organisation, it has offices in 27 countries employing 6,000 people.

It was in March 1996 that S&P had fist announced an affiliation with CRISIL, which pioneered the concept of credit rating in India. The fourth largest credit rating company in the world, the 17-year-old CRISIL has 300 employees in eight Indian offices. In addition, 25 professionals and 40 associates operate out of CRISIL's London office.

The two have been working closely with one another over the last decade. S&P has shared some of its ratings methodologies and processes and has provided training to CRISIL personnel. In recent years, S&P has commissioned CRISIL in an increasing number of global analytical projects.

With the continuing development and growth of the financial markets in Asia-Pacific, the region has become a critical growth market for S&P. In 1985 S&P had opened its first office in Asia-Pacific in Tokyo. In September 2004, it acquired Capital IQ and thus increased its footprint to Hyderabad and New Delhi as well. The acquisition also added more than 800 staff to S&P's global distribution and capability. Capital IQ provides high-impact information and workflow solutions to over 800 leading financial institutions, advisory firms and corporations.

Corbet occupied the president's corner office at S&P a year ago and since then has been on an acquisition spree - CRISIL is the seventh company she has acquired for the global giant. "Now that we are a majority shareholder, we will be able to integrate CRISIL's operations with those of Standard & Poor's and will fully leverage opportunities both in India and abroad, creating additional value for our clients," said Corbet.

Adding to the sentiment was R. Ravimohan, managing director and chef executive officer, CRISIL. "We are now in a position to provide unprecedented and unmatched levels of service. This will give confidence to the market place," he said. S&P and CRISIL have similar business profiles as well as customer-specific focus, he added. He also emphasised the importance of the announcement for S&P. "This is a momentous occasion. The top management of Standard & Poor's is here."

S&P had earlier stated is intention to up its stake in CRISIL to 75 per cent but Corbet said that they are now comfortable with 58.5 per cent. The tie-up will help CRISIL launch new products related to structured finance, risk management and equity ratings, in the Indian market place. The president does not foresee any conflict in the area of operations since the two companies address different sets of investors.

Most importantly, the CRISIL brand will not be killed. "It is a very strong brand and will continue to flourish in India," said Corbet.

The public holding in CRISIL is 25.92 per cent, of which 14.3 per cent is held by stock broker Rakesh Jhunjhunwala and his wife Rekha. The Jhunjhunwalas sold 350,000 shares, or a 5.5 per cent stake, in CRISIL to S&P. Based on his previous shareholding, Jhunjhunwala and his wife continue to own 8.8 per cent of the company. S&P had revised its open offer price to Rs775 from Rs680.

ICICI Bank which held 10.7 per cent stake offloaded its entire holding of Crisil in the open offer, after the revised offer.