Acquisition and Sale Focus ChoicePoint on U.S. Operations

ChoicePoint Inc., Alpharetta GA, sold its UK-based ChoicePoint Limited subsidiary and CUE contributory property and casualty claims database to UK-based Experian. CUE provides claims histories to property and casualty insurers in the UK, helping identify and prevent fraudulent claims.

At the same time, ChoicePoint acquired Statewide Data Services Inc. a Pensacola, FL-based provider of prospecting leads and related services to property and casualty agents in the United States. The acquisition will allow ChoicePoint to provide the insurance industry with an integrated mix of direct marketing products and services.

Since the parent company ChoicePoint was spun off from Atlanta-based Equifax in 1997, the company has focused strategically on the domestic U.S. market that, in turn, led to the decision to sell the UK-based business unit to Experian.

“The CUE database adds significant value to Experian’s existing range of risk-management information solutions for insurers,” said Sue Hall, Experian’s head of insurance services, in a statement.

“SDS’s prospecting services provide tremendous value to the agent population, and we believe that by combining the prescreening, creative and mail-house capabilities of ChoicePoint Direct with SDS’s expertise in serving agents, we can further enhance the value we deliver to our customers,” said ChoicePoint’s executive vice president David Lee in a separate statement.