Experian has announced it has bought PH Group, ending months of speculation surrounding the deal. The news comes as brand communications group Loewy also announces a private equity funding deal to aide its aggressive expansion plans.
Information solutions company Experian, which has made no secret in the past of its desire to expand by acquisition, has taken on the B2B analytics business as part of its drive to increase its use of data segmentation and analysis tools.
PH Group, which has offices in London and Paris and operates across several European countries, is one of the foremost experts in business data analytics. It will be known as PH, an Experian company, following the acquisition and will operate within Experian’s business information division. It will continue to operate from its offices and complement Experian’s existing portfolio of business information and B2B marketing solutions.
B2B Marketing speculated on the PH Group buyout in April, when rumours surfaced that the two companies were in negotiations. At the time, both companies refused to comment.
Announcing the acquisition, Tiku Patel, md of Experian UK & Ireland, says, “PH Group’s skills base is a great strategic fit with Experian as we seek to bring intelligent analytics and data sources to a wider client base. We believe this acquisition will bring considerable benefits to clients of both Experian and ph and will enable us to build on PH’s modelling, analytics and data capabilities while at the same time looking to enhance its data sources and solutions to meet the needs of the future.”
Rolf Hickmann, managing director of PH, comments, “Experian’s business information data has been an integral part of our analytics and business information offering for many years. As a result, our clients have already benefited from Experian’s data.
“Now, as a part of the Experian Group, we will have even greater access to its information, expertise and investment in order to share and increase our knowledge to deliver even more solutions and innovation for the wider B2B industry.”
Last year Experian pledged to expand its B2B division when it appointed Nick Frazer as its head of B2B marketing. Previous acquisitions include QAS and CheetahMail.
The PH Group’s interests in the joint ventures of ProspectSpace and InterRisk are not included in this acquisition.
Related articles
DATA VENDORS: PH Group retains deal with rival data partner – 12-12-07
Or use our enhanced search functionality to find other related articles
Click here to search and apply for the latest B2B Marketing Jobs