Equifax Inc., the credit bureau and information provider, has laid off an undisclosed number of employees and closed several facilities as a result of a $23 million charge it expects to take against fourth quarter earnings.
The firm attributed this largely to anti-spam legislation.
Specifically, the Atlanta-based company cited anticipated operating losses at its eMarketing unit, which helps businesses send promotional information to customers.
Equifax also said it slashed the book value of the assets by 78% percent, meaning the value has been cut to $7.5 million from $27.4 million.
In August 2002, Equifax expanded its marketing business by buying electronic marketing company Naviant for $135 million, giving it access to more than 100 million names of permission-based e-mail recipients (Direct Newsline, Aug, 16, 2002).
In a separate development, Equifax has rehired John Healy to head the company’s marketing services, a vacant position. Healy had been senior vice president of Equifax’s direct marketing unit before joining online advertising company DoubleClick.
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