Press Release on the Announcement on IHS Investment in Penang

22 September 2011

US-based IHS Complementing Penang’s BPO Hub

Penang’s position as a Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) hub will be further enhanced with the establishment of an APAC Centre of Excellence (CoE) by IHS Inc. (NYSE: IHS).  US-based IHS is the leading source of information and insight in critical areas that shape today’s business landscape, including: energy & power; design & supply chain; defence, risk & security; environmental, health, safety and sustainability (EHS); country & industry forecasting, as well as commodities, pricing and cost.

In 2009, the KPMG’s Exploring Global Frontier Report identified Penang as one of the 31 emerging BPO cities in the world.  To date, several of Penang’s existing investors, such as AMD, Agilent Technologies, Citibank, Dell, Intel, Jabil, Motorola, Mattel  and Seagate have already set up their shared services and outsourcing activities in Penang.  Penang is presently used as the base of many of these multinational corporations (MNCs) for shared services activities encompassing  accounts payable, accounts receivables, inventory management and costing, human resources, trade bills processing, call centre, information technology outsourcing services, data intelligence, design and development as well as supply chain management.

Key drivers identified for Penang to emerge as a favourable BPO destination include:

1. Strong focus by the government on promoting BPO industry through various state initiatives
2. Availability of talent pool to offer higher-end, relatively less scale-dependent BPO services such as financial services, logistics, energy and pharmaceuticals
3. Significant investments in upgrading of existing infrastructure
4. Availability of a strong engineering and manufacturing base, which can be leveraged to offer services in these sectors

IHS Chairman and CEO Jerre Stead said the company plans to commence operations in its APAC CoE in Penang in December 2011 with initial staff of 20 people which will increase to about 60 by the end of Q1 of 2012.  By the end of 2012, IHS expects to have approximately 200 employees on their payroll in Penang.  IHS expects continued growth in its Penang CoE through its full build-out in 2015. The Penang operation will be equipped with various capabilities, including: customer care, finance, information technology, research & analysis as well as editorial and publishing.

Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng explained that it is the State Government’s aspiration to make Penang an international and intelligent city to attract and retain Malaysians and Global Citizens to work and reside in Penang. He further clarified that the multi-ethnic and multi-lingual populace of Penang are assets in making Penang a location of choice for investments.

The decision by IHS to invest in Penang as its third global CoE will complement Penang’s BPO Hub.

About IHS Inc.

IHS (NYSE: IHS) is the leading source of information and insight in critical areas that shape today’s business landscape, including energy and power; design and supply chain; defense, risk and security; environmental, health and safety (EHS) and sustainability; country and industry forecasting; and commodities, pricing and cost. Businesses and governments in more than 165 countries around the globe rely on the comprehensive content, expert independent analysis and flexible delivery methods of IHS to make high-impact decisions and develop strategies with speed and confidence. IHS has been in business since 1959 and became a publicly traded company on the New York Stock Exchange in 2005. Headquartered in Englewood, Colorado, USA, IHS employs more than 5,100 people in more than 30 countries around the world.