Morningstar, a provider of independent investment research, has acquired the global financial filings database business of Global Reports LLC, a provider of online financial and Corporate and Social Responsibility reports for publicly traded companies around the world.

Once the acquisition is complete, Morningstar will have broader global coverage and more in-depth historical information that will help investors, advisers, and institutions make more informed decisions. Instead of spending hours surfing the Internet, clients will now have a single source for global regulatory and financial filings, real-time alerts when new reports are filed, and full-text search functionality.

Founded in 1999, Global Reports provides timely online access to financial filings from more than 37,000 publicly traded companies in approximately 130 countries. Global Reports offers more than 500,000 current and historical filings and reports, such as annual and interim reports, initial public offerings, and CSR reports.

Morningstar plans to fully integrate Global Reports’ financial filings database into popular products such as the company’s investment Website, Morningstar.com; Morningstar Advisor WorkstationSM, a Web-based investment planning system for advisers; Morningstar DirectSM, a Web-based research platform for institutions; and 10-K Wizard, a provider of SEC EDGAR filing research and alert services, which Morningstar acquired in December 2008.