The security firm says its team and technology will remain in place, while S&P will add data, research and institutional reach once the deal closes.
S&P Global has reached an agreement to acquire smart contract security firm OpenZeppelin, bringing the crypto company into the broader group that includes S&P Global Ratings.
The deal is still subject to customary closing conditions, according to S&P Global’s announcement. The companies did not disclose financial terms, while S&P said it does not expect the transaction to have a material impact on its financial results.
Future Contracts versions will remain open source, while OpenZeppelin has extended the same commitment to its other open-source applications and tools.
OpenZeppelin says its Contracts software has facilitated the transfer of more than $37 trillion in value since 2015.
The current OpenZeppelin Contracts repository is licensed under the MIT License, giving users broad rights to use, copy, modify and distribute the software. Separately, OpenZeppelin said all released versions will remain open source permanently and cannot be withdrawn.
S&P says OpenZeppelin will retain its name and continue operating as an independent business unit after the deal closes. Demian Brener will remain at the helm and report to Yann Le Pallec, president of S&P Global Ratings.
OpenZeppelin Security Services to Continue Under Existing Team
OpenZeppelin said its security audits, engineering services and ecosystem initiatives will continue under the existing team. The key change will be access to S&P’s research capabilities, market data, institutional network and additional resources.
The deal would bring OpenZeppelin’s smart contract security expertise into S&P’s institutional risk and data operations while keeping its code publicly available.
OpenZeppelin’s current terms of service allow certain changes to paid or hosted plans, including pricing, features, quotas and usage limits, with protections and notice varying by the nature of each change.
For customers, the announcement outlines specific continuity commitments covering audits, engineering services, ecosystem programs and open-source code. However, it does not extend the same guarantee to every price, product feature or usage limit.
Until the deal closes, OpenZeppelin remains under a pending acquisition agreement and has not yet become an S&P business unit. If the transaction proceeds as announced, users will mainly see a change in corporate ownership, along with access to S&P’s data, research and institutional distribution. OpenZeppelin says its public code and core client services will continue as before.
