Equifax, the Atlanta-based information company, has signed an agreement to acquire the Customer Information Services Group of R.L. Polk &Co., Detroit. The deal, valued at approximately $260 million, includes Polk’s Direct Marketing, Data Information Services/Polk Verity, Compusearch/Prospects Unlimited of Polk Canada and Polk City Directory. The deal is expected to close by April 30.
Combined, the units purchased by Equifax contain data culled from 250 sources on 180 million consumers in 105 million households, including product registration, direct marketing, geodemographic and analytic service information. The businesses are expected to have $165 million in sales for the fiscal year ending March 31.
After the sale, Polk’s operations will consist of its Global Transportation Business, the automotive-related portions of Polk Canada, and its Geographic Data Technology and Carfax subsidiaries.
John Healy, currently senior vice president and general manager of CIR’s direct marketing group, will join Equifax as the unit’s executive vice president and group executive, reporting directly to Equifax president and COO Lee Kennedy.
“The Polk Consumer Information Solutions business has played a significant role in providing highly valuable consumer marketing information to a wide range of industries,” said Equifax chairman and CEO Tom Chapman in a statement.
“This acquisition enables Equifax to introduce new ways to market world-class lifestyle and demographic data and gives us a leadership position in the direct marketing industry.”
“As a privately-held company based in Detroit that has developed a unique automotive product line, it became evident we should focus our business efforts on the needs of the transportation industry,” said Polk chairman and CEO Stephen Polk in a statement.”
This sale of our CIS units is a critical step in our comprehensive refocusing of Polk’s business, which includes the sale of our non-automotive assets, continued emphasis on transforming our infrastructure and business processes, and continued investment in our transportation-driven future.”
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