IHS announced the acquisition of two leading environmental health and safety information companies, Atrion International, and Syntex Management Systems, for a combined purchase price of approximately $80 million.
The acquisitions significantly enhance existing IHS capabilities in the environmental health and safety (EHS) and sustainability arena by complementing and expanding the company's existing health and safety compliance, product stewardship and incident/crisis management solutions.

"Atrion and Syntex products and services are proven market leaders in their own right, providing distinctive capabilities and proven value to customers," said IHS Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Jerre Stead. "Customers will now have access to even more robust solutions from a single provider, IHS, with the broadest and deepest EHS and sustainability information content, software and expertise in the marketplace."

Atrion International, founded in 1989, combines regulatory expertise and industry-leading technology to streamline the generation, management and distribution of hazardous materials communication documents and reports. By seamlessly integrating its solutions with customers existing work processes and systems, Atrion improves efficiency while delivering accurate and compliant output. At the heart of Atrion's product compliance solutions is industry-leading regulatory content covering more than 50 countries in 44 languages with more than 300,000 chemicals, 15,000 regulatory phrases, 5,000-plus proprietary algorithms and more than 100 regulatory forms. Atrion International is headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, Canada with offices in the United States and Europe, significantly enhancing the IHS EHS and Sustainability European customer base with localized subject matter expertise and support.

"Combining existing IHS capabilities for managing safety data sheets and chemical inventories with Atrion's solutions for product compliance and regulatory document authoring will enable IHS to more fully support customers' health and safety compliance and product stewardship needs," said Atrion International President and Chief Executive Officer Patrick J. Lavoie. "We are excited to join IHS in solidifying a leading position in the EHS and sustainability marketplace and provide additional value for customers in this rapidly evolving regulatory landscape."

Syntex Management Solutions, founded in 1995 in Houston, Texas, is a leading provider of operational risk management software and services that help companies ensure the health and safety of their workers, avoid devastating accidents, protect the environment and cut costs. Syntex solutions turn continuous improvement strategies into repeatable processes for assessing risks and implementing corrective measures. In addition, Syntex offers benchmarking services that utilize detailed operational data gathered from top safety practitioners in order to help companies institute the latest industry best practices. Syntex enterprise-level solutions are deployed in more than 100 countries and translated into more than 20 languages.

"As a pioneer in the field of risk management, Syntex strengthens existing IHS health and safety compliance and incident/crisis management capabilities, supporting the company's commitment to deliver complete EHS and sustainability solutions," said Syntex President and Chief Executive Officer Trent Derr. "In a field where many firms are newcomers with limited experience and expertise, IHS continues to build an unparalleled stable of industry, domain and technical expertise, and we are proud to be a part of that evolution."

Stead added: "IHS is committed to meeting the growing customer demand for environmental health and safety compliance, product stewardship, incident/crisis management, greenhouse gas and energy management, environmental compliance and corporate responsibility solutions. The acquisition of Atrion and Syntex represents a major step in our strategy to turn EHS and Sustainability information management into a powerful driver for business success."