Generally when I get an email from a Bureau van Dijk (BvD) staffer with the subject line "Ownership", I expect to be party to juicy morsels about the company finally selling out and getting a long overdue change of ownership.
It is, after all, coming up to two years since venture capital firm Candover took a 60% stake in the Belgian-based company information provider in October 2004. That was sparked by 70-year-old founder and chairman Bernard van Ommeslaghe seeking a partial exit strategy.
So what exactly has happened at BvD - and for US readers who are confused, no we're not talking boxer briefs, either.
BvD has been engaged in some enhancements to company ownership information, rolling out a new data-set containing detailed information on companies' shareholders and subsidiaries, and the links between them. In other words, more data for compliance officers and financial directors who want to keep ahead of the game.
What makes this unusual is that many of these enhancements revolve around a user's ability to determine their own definition of a company's ultimate owner (UO).
You could choose to define a "controlling ownership" as a minimum of 25% of share ownership, or you could choose the IFRS (International Financial Reporting Standards) definition of 50% ownership. (If that interests you, have a read of PriceWaterCooper's summary of IFRS definitions of "control, joint control and significant influence").
I was also taken by an outbreak of TLAs (three-letter acronyms) in BvD's report - it now distinguishes a DUO from a GUO. It has introduced the DUO (Domestic Ultimate Owner) category to distinguish it from a GUO (Global Ultimate Owner), which is a useful addition in an age where globalisation has led to complex cross-border investments and associations.
Marketing manager, Louise Green, said: "This data-set is specific to BvD, and crucial for many types of research and business development projects, including Know Your Customer, due diligence and procurement."
It certainly suggests a refinement of usability at BvD that reflects changing market requirements.
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