InfoUSA has acquired list brokerage and management firm Millard Group. Neither company announced the specific terms of the transaction, although in an interview infoUSA CEO Vinod Gupta said it was on an all-cash basis, and classified the purchase as “a small acquisition, not a $100 million dollar” sale.
The acquisition does not extend infoUSA’s reach into any new client bases, either in terms of geography or industry, Gupta said. But it does give the Omaha, NE-based data firm a deeper reach into existing customer categories, and allows Millard salespeople to offer infoUSA’s compiled data and data services, as well as its e-mail and other technological offerings.
Plans call for the executive management team to remain with the Petersborough, NH-based firm, although Gupta did not specify whether president Ben Perez had inked a contract with infoUSA. Millard Group will become part of infoUSA’s Donnelley Marketing list operations.
Gupta pooh-poohed the idea that one motivation for the acquisition was to take on additional debt, an action that might cause potential suitors for infoUSA to think twice about making a play for the company. InfoUSA has been the subject of three shareholder actions, in which minority shareholders have requested information regarding the company’s willingness to entertain outside takeover offers. In late August, a special committee established by Gupta disbanded after rejecting an offer from Gupta to take the company private.
“You don’t do things in life because of disgruntled shareholders. You do them because they make business sense,” Gupta said, adding that he was always on the lookout for companies willing to enter into partnerships with infoUSA.
