ADBERTISING CONGLOMERATE Young & Rubicam Inc., New York, agreed in April to acquire database marketing agency KnowledgeBase Marketing Inc. for $175 million in stock and cash. KnowledgeBase will retain its stand-alone identity and operations in Chapel Hill, NC. 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 said in an interview 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 capab ilities.” Although he would not list individual companies, Toben believed other suitors included “information companies, Internet portals, other advertising agencies and large consultancies.”
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