15 Dec 2021 12:16

Interfax spinning off IT business into separate company that will focus on digital services

Interfax Information Services Group, continuing its digital transformation, is restructuring and spinning off its business developing analytical IT systems, which has become the main strategic direction of the Group's growth, into a separate company.

"The creation of Interfax - Digital Solutions, which will consolidate the development and creation of the latest high-tech systems, will support rapid growth in this area, strengthening our competitive advantage and culture of innovation. This will enable the Group to more prominently position itself as one of the leading players on the digital market, become a full-fledged member of the Russian IT community and intensify the search for new product ideas," Interfax Group Chairman Mikhail Komissar said.

The advanced systems developed by Interfax - SPARK, SCAN, X-Compliance, Marker, RU Data, SCOUT and ASTRA - lead in their segments of the information market and generate a large share of the Group's revenue. This product line is being developed by more than 500 professionals in the areas of information technology, artificial intelligence and big data.

"Our information products help clients, which include all major companies and banks without exception, professionally minimize risks, meet regulatory requirements, increase efficiency and manage their reputations thanks to high-quality information and the latest technologies. We are seeing growing demand for such solutions and have made their development the foundation of our strategy," Komissar said.

The consolidation of digital resources and competencies at Interfax - Digital Solutions will make the company more attractive for IT professionals, optimize business processes within the Group and more prominently position the two main areas of its business, he said.

The news business, with which Interfax began more than 30 years ago, will remain at the Interfax News Agency and focus on developing professional news products and Internet resources.

"The agency's business model, based on providing paid subscriptions to financial market professionals, the media and those who need information to make decisions, has demonstrated its effectiveness. The news audience today is expanding thanks to the influx of private investors into the stock market, and many media outlets' transition to a paid access model. Interfax News Agency intends to remain the leader in quality content and continues to see strong growth prospects for itself in this segment," Komissar said.

Interfax's ownership structure and core management team will not change as a result of the reorganization and spin-off of Interfax - Digital Solutions.

Interfax was founded in 1989 as the first independent news agency in the Soviet Union. In addition to its newswire, in the 1990s the agency began publishing professional products for participants in the commodities and financial markets, assign credit ratings, calculate stock market indexes and relay market data. Interfax remains the most cited source of information about events in Russia internationally, and the most popular product on the Russian stock market, with more than 1 million users.

In 2004, Interfax released the SPARK system, which became the industry standard in corporate risk assessment, and cofounded the United Credit Bureau, which has won leading positions on the market.

The family of Interfax products was later supplemented by SCAN (media monitoring and analysis of reputational risks); Marker (analysis of commodity markets, customers and suppliers); X-Compliance (compliance with anti-money laundering and anti-terrorist financing requirements); ASTRA (service for preparation of documentation on controlled transactions); RU Data (benchmark database on financial instruments); and SCOUT (automation of risk management processes). Interfax also works on major IT projects at the federal and regional level and is the operator of the Fedresurs system for disclosure of information on legal entities, analysis of encumbrances, monitoring and bankruptcies.