NASDAQ to buy local tech firm

Privately held technology company Directors Desk will be purchased by the corporation behind the largest U.S. electronic stock market, that corporation announced Friday.

The Nasdaq Stock Market Inc. of New York has entered into an unspecified agreement to buy Washington-based Directors Desk, which offers online tools for corporate boards of directors, such as secure e-mail, document management and electronic voting.

Started in Spokane in 2003, Directors Desk claims as clients more than 1,000 directors and 35 companies, including Eastman Kodak Co. and ultrasonic imaging device maker SonoSite Inc., worldwide. The company now lists locations in New York City and Spokane Valley.

The purchase, expected to close in the third quarter of this year, follows Nasdaq’s recent debut of Board Recruiting, an Internet-based service that matches companies with potential board members, according to a Nasdaq news release.

“Directors Desk helps streamline the day-to-day functions of board management and eases the burden on directors so that they can focus on the information that is most critical to decision making,” Bruce Aust, executive vice president of Nasdaq, said in a prepared statement. “We chose Directors Desk because we believe it has the best capabilities and features of any company in the category, with the technology to develop more services as the needs of a board evolve and change.”

“NASDAQ was the perfect fit for us given their relationships with public companies, their philosophy to help companies manage their public responsibilities, and their global brand,” Howard Breindel, president of Directors Desk, said in a prepared statement.