A press release yesterday from the American Stock Exchange alerted me to the fact that units of Information Services Group, Inc. are now listed on the Amex under the ticker symbol III.U. The offering size is 28.125M units at $8 per unit for gross proceeds of $225M. One unit equals one share of common stock plus one warrant to purchase one share common stock. This is a “blank check” company, one formed for the sole purpose of acquiring other businesses. ISG, according to its prospectus, is targeting properties in the information industry, specifically market research, marketing services, advisory services, data services, advertising creation/placement, software, Internet-based services related to collecting, aggregating, measuring, analyzing, and distributing information, and content. It’s certainly a broad definition for what businesses fall under ISG’s definition of “information services.”

What’s interesting about ISG is its management team. It’s headed by Michael Connors (ex-CEO of VNU’s Media Measurement and Information Group and former SVP of D&B, where he masterminded the breakup of the company into three separate companies). Its CFO is Frank Martell (ex-COO of ACNielsen Corp, a VNU company). ISG’s General Counsel and Corporate Secretary is Earl Doppelt (ex-Chief Legal Officer of VNU). Hmmm, VNU, Nielsen, D&B backgrounds. The company is headquartered in Stamford, CT. Hmmm again. I can think of an information industry company headquartered in Stamford that’s trying to sell off some businesses. I wonder…..