Finding data

Content

Bureau Van Dijk provides a number of databases that provide different types of company information. The different databases integrate relatively well, and provide data in comparable formats.

• Orbis Bankfocus
  This source covers information on banks, insurance companies, and other types of firms in the financial services industry. Bankfocus provides the company data in formats that are more suitable for these firms. Specific items for banks include Capital Tier ratio information as well as ownership data. The coverage is approximately 10 years of data on financial type companies worldwide.
• Orbis M&A (Zephyr)
  This database has information on mergers and acquisitions, Initial Public Offerings, and Venture Capital. It covers similar data when compared to SDC Platinum. There are differences on the availability of specific variables as well as some coverage. SDC is older and has more historical data. From approx. 1999 to now the coverage is likely to be the same. Orbos M&A is available from any computer, on or off campus.

N.B.: Financial data in both Orbis Europe and Orbis BankFocus originates from specific financial statements that are based on different levels of consolidation. Make sure to check for this if this is relevant for your research as this influences comparability of the data between companies.

Documentation and manuals

Bureau van Dijk provides user guides within the respective websites. These guides are available only if you are logged on to the database.

Other information

Practical information on using this database is also available at the following blogs:

• Financial Research and Databases
• Financial databases

Although you will not yet find much information on Orbis on these blogs, the information for Amadeus, a similar database from Bureau Van Dijk, could also be helpful for Orbis.