Acxiom Expands Geographic Reach With Acquisition of Claritas Europe
December 08 2003 - 3:23AM
PR Newswire (US)
Acxiom Expands Geographic Reach With Acquisition of Claritas Europe
LONDON and LITTLE ROCK, Arkansas, December 8 /PRNewswire/ --
European Companies to Benefit From Blending of Leading Data,
Technological and Solutions Expertise Acxiom(R) Corporation
(Nasdaq: ACXM) today announced that it had reached an agreement to
acquire the Claritas Europe group of companies from VNU N.V., a
global information and media company based in Haarlem, The
Netherlands. "This is a landmark day for Acxiom," said Acxiom
Company Leader Charles D. Morgan. "We are very excited about this
opportunity to combine Acxiom's superior data integration and
solutions capabilities with Claritas's premier data assets and
broader presence in Europe." As a result, Morgan said, Acxiom will
be able to help companies doing business in Europe improve their
marketing effectiveness and prospecting results in ways previously
not possible. "I am also pleased to welcome many talented new
associates to Acxiom," Morgan added. "People at Acxiom - with their
technical know-how and commitment to our clients' success - are our
No. 1 asset and our competitive difference, and we look forward to
bringing these new associates onto the team." Acxiom will pay EUR
33.5 million (approximately $40 million) in cash for Claritas
Europe's operations. Acxiom expects the transaction to be slightly
dilutive for the balance of fiscal 2004 and to be accretive for
fiscal 2005. The transaction is expected to close within 30 days.
The anticipated revenue from the companies acquired will be
approximately EUR 83 million (US$100 million) for the 12 months
ending December 31, 2003, which will approximately triple Acxiom's
annual European revenue. The transaction is pending approval from
the appropriate work councils. Claritas products will be re-branded
with the Acxiom name. Very much like Acxiom's InfoBase(R) products
in the U.S., Claritas Europe's products provide the largest source
of consumer lifestyle and behavioral information for effective
marketing across Europe. Claritas Europe clients are among some of
the world's most successful companies in the financial services,
automotive, retail, consumer durables, mail order, publishing,
telecommunications, utilities, and travel and leisure industries.
(Claritas Europe is operated independently from Claritas, Inc., a
separate VNU subsidiary that operates in the U.S. Claritas, Inc. is
not involved in this transaction.) The Claritas Europe data
acquisition and sales offices being purchased by Acxiom are in
Paris; Frankfurt; Warsaw; Madrid; Lisbon, Teddington, England, and
Leiderdorp, The Netherlands. Claritas services operations include
Altwood Systems in Kent, England; and BPK Group in Almere and
Nieuwegein, the Netherlands. Currently, Acxiom European operations
are in London, Leeds and Sunderland, England, as well as Paris.
"These expanded operations will allow Acxiom to provide a full
complement of services for the Pan-European market," Morgan said.
These services fully leverage Acxiom's customer information
infrastructure, including InfoBase(R) data content, superior
AbiliTec(R)-driven data integration capabilities, and the expansive
data assets of the new markets. While the acquisition gives Acxiom
a much broader capability to provide data and services for
companies doing business in Europe, Morgan said it will also be
welcome news to many U.S.-based companies who are actively
expanding their businesses into Europe. Acxiom's U.K. office has
recently signed significant agreements with a number of leading
companies already served by Acxiom in the U.S. Morgan also
announced a strong European leadership team that combines decades
of experience in client services, technology and business
development from multiple markets. Kevin Zaffaroni, who has served
as an Acxiom group leader for financial services clients since
1997, will head up the new Acxiom-Europe organization. Zaffaroni,
who previously served as an executive at IBM, brings more than 25
years of expertise in the information technology industry. Cindy
Truyens, who has been with Acxiom since 2000 and serving as
managing director of Acxiom (U.K.) Limited and director of Acxiom
France, will now lead the company's expanded business in the U.K.
Auke Jan van den Hout, now managing director for Claritas Europe
Database Marketing Division, will lead the Northern European group
of the new organization. Thierry Asmar, now managing director of
Claritas France, will lead the Southern European group. Bruce
Carroll, Acxiom's strategic development leader and a senior
executive at the company the past four years, will also be directly
involved in integrating the products of Acxiom and the acquired
companies. He has more than 30 years' experience in building
successful micromarketing and database companies in the U.S.,
Europe and Canada. He was one of the founding partners and
President/CEO of Claritas in the U.S. After the acquisition of
Claritas by VNU in 1990, Carroll became President/CEO of
Computerized Marketing Technologies in London. One of the largest
data acquisition and direct marketing companies in Europe, CMT was
later acquired by VNU to become the largest and core operation of
Claritas Europe. Wally Anderson will serve as chief technology
leader for Acxiom Europe. Anderson joined Acxiom in 1998 and has
had a key role in developing AbiliTec and Acxiom's grid-based
solutions architecture. Prior to joining Acxiom, he was the vice
president for technology and communications for Wal-Mart Stores,
and he had a long career with IBM in many marketing and technology
positions. Acxiom will hold a conference call at 10:00 a.m. CST
today to discuss this information further. Interested parties are
invited to listen to the call, which will be broadcast via the
Internet at www.acxiom.com. About Acxiom Acxiom Corporation
(Nasdaq:ACXM) integrates data, services and technology to create
and deliver customer and information management solutions for many
of the largest, most respected companies in the world. The core
components of Acxiom's innovative solutions are Customer Data
Integration (CDI) technology, data, database services, IT
outsourcing, consulting and analytics, and privacy leadership.
Founded in 1969, Acxiom is headquartered in Little Rock, Arkansas,
with locations throughout the United States, and in the United
Kingdom, France, Australia and Japan. For more information, visit
www.acxiom.com. Acxiom, AbiliTec and InfoBase are registered
trademarks of Acxiom Corporation. This release and today's
conference call contain forward-looking statements that are subject
to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results
to differ materially; such statements include but are not
necessarily limited to the following: 1) that the transactions are
expected to be slightly dilutive for the balance of fiscal 2004 and
to be accretive for fiscal 2005; 2) that the anticipated revenue
from the companies acquired is estimated to be approximately EUR 83
million or $ 100 million for the 12 months ending December 31,
2003;3) that the transaction will be approved by the necessary
regulatory authorities and will close within the expected
timeframe; and 4) that the acquired companies will be successfully
integrated into Acxiom's existing business. The following are
important factors, among others, that could cause actual results to
differ materially from these forward-looking statements: The
possibility that certain contracts may not be closed or closed
within the anticipated time frames; the possibility that certain
contracts may not generate the anticipated revenue or
profitability; the possibility that economic or other conditions
might lead to a reduction in demand for the Company's products and
services; the possibility that the current economic slowdown may
worsen and/or persist for an unpredictable period of time; the
possibility that economic conditions will not be as expected; the
possibility that significant customers may experience extreme,
severe economic difficulty; the possibility that the fair value of
certain assets of the Company may not be equal to the carrying
value of those assets now or in future time periods; the
possibility that sales cycles may lengthen; the continued ability
to attract and retain qualified technical and leadership associates
and the possible loss of associates to other organizations; the
ability to properly motivate the sales force and other associates
of the Company; the ability to achieve cost reductions and avoid
unanticipated costs; the continued availability of credit upon
satisfactory terms and conditions; the introduction of competent,
competitive products, technologies or services by other companies;
potential pricing pressure due to market conditions and/or
competitive products and services; changes in consumer or business
information industries and markets; the Company's ability to
protect proprietary information and technology or to obtain
necessary licenses on commercially reasonable terms; the
difficulties encountered when entering new markets or industries;
changes in the legislative, accounting, regulatory and consumer
environments affecting the Company's business including but not
limited to litigation, legislation, regulations and customs
relating to the Company's ability to collect, manage, aggregate and
use data; data suppliers might withdraw data from the Company,
leading to the Company's inability to provide certain products and
services; short-term contracts affect the predictability of the
Company's revenues; the possibility that the amount of ad hoc,
volume based and project work will not be as expected; the
potential loss of data center capacity or interruption of
telecommunication links or power sources; postal rate increases
that could lead to reduced volumes of business; customers that may
cancel or modify their agreements with the Company; the potential
disruption of the services of the United States Postal Service,
their global counterparts and other delivery systems; the
successful integration of any acquired businesses; and other
competitive factors. With respect to the providing of products or
services in Europt and elsewhere outside the Company's primary base
of operations in the U.S., all of the above factors and the
difficulty of doing business in numerous sovereign jurisdictions
due to differences in culture, laws and regulations. Other factors
are detailed from time to time in the Company's periodic reports
and registration statements filed with the United States Securities
and Exchange Commission. Acxiom believes that it has the product
and technology offerings, facilities, associates and competitive
and financial resources for continued business success, but future
revenues, costs, margins and profits are all influenced by a number
of factors, including those discussed above, all of which are
inherently difficult to forecast. Acxiom undertakes no obligation
to update the information contained in this press release, the
conference call, or any other forward-looking statement. Media
Contacts: Bill McIntyre/Katy Ludditt, Band & Brown
Communications, +44(0)20 7419 7000 Investors Relations Contact:
Robert Bloom, Acxiom Corporation, +1-501-342-1321
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