19 April 2007
Experian, the global information solutions company, announces that it has acquired Hitwise, a leading Internet marketing intelligence company, which helps clients monitor the performance of their websites and target their online advertising spend more effectively. The purchase price is approximately $240m and will be funded from
Experian’s existing cash resources. The transaction is subject to regulatory approval.
Don Robert, Chief Executive Officer of Experian, commented:
“We have been successfully repositioning our Marketing Solutions business to meet our clients’ needs as they continue to switch more of their advertising spend online. Hitwise, which is a rapidly growing, successful business, brings new, unique data to Experian and complements the existing data, tools and expertise that we already offer to clients in other areas such as research services and email distribution.”
Andrew Walsh, Chief Executive Officer of Hitwise, said:
“Over the last 10 years, Hitwise has developed a truly unique digital intelligence service that helps inform the online marketing strategies of 1,200 clients around the world every day. We are excited to become part of Experian, having worked with them for over four years. We will now be able to accelerate Hitwise’s growth and profitability through access to Experian’s wider pool of data, tools and clients, while more quickly expanding our global footprint.”
Description of Hitwise
Founded in 1998, Hitwise collects and aggregates information from Internet Service Providers (ISPs) on how over 25 million consumers use and search the Internet in the US, UK, Australia and other countries in Asia Pacific. Using proprietary technology, Hitwise reports on nearly a million websites each day and sells this information to companies who market their services online. The data allows companies to benchmark their websites against competitors in terms of visitor market share, visitor profiles and time spent on sites. It also helps companies to determine which are the best websites on which to advertise, which search engines drive traffic to their sites and which key words are most effective.
To safeguard consumer privacy, the data excludes personally identifiable information and is aggregated into socio-demographic marketing segments. Hitwise owns this data once it has been processed. Hitwise has over 1,200 clients across numerous sectors including financial services, media, travel and retail. Hitwise’s clients include HSBC, AXA, Google, eBay, CBS News, ask.com, IKEA, MTV and Qantas. The top ten clients only account for 5% of sales. 43% of sales are generated in the US, 36% in the UK and 21% from Australia and Asia Pacific. Hitwise benefits from clear barriers to entry, reflecting the scale of its operations, the quality of its data and its long term ISP relationships.
The remainder of the press release can be read on the Experian website.
