Advertising conglomerate Young & Rubicam Inc., New York, agreed to acquire database marketing agency KnowledgeBase Marketing Inc. for $175 million in stock and cash.
Under the deal, KnowledgeBase will retain its stand-alone identity and operations in Chapel Hill, NC. The management will remain intact and will report to Jay Bingle, CEO of Y&R direct response advertising unit Wunderman Cato Johnson.
KnowledgeBase CEO Tim Toben, in an interview with DIRECT Newsline, said that the acquisition represented a “business combination” of growth, as opposed to efficiencies, and that no layoffs were expected.
“This validates that marketing communications firms want to build customer relationships,” Toben said. “They need the infrastructure-building and the data warehousing capabilities.”
Although he would not list individual companies, Toben said that other suitors included “information companies, Internet portals, other advertising agencies and large consultancies.”
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