Toluna Parent Buys Harris Europe from Nielsen

ITWP, the parent company of online community and survey technology provider Toluna, has acquired Harris Interactive's European arm from Nielsen. As part of the deal, Nielsen will take a minority share in ITWP.

Both Toluna and Harris Interactive Europe - which has operations in the UK, Germany and France - will continue to operate as separate entities servicing their own clients. As part of the deal, Toluna founder and CEO Frédéric-Charles Petit (pictured), who is also CEO of ITWP, will lead both entities, and Nielsen will gain access to Toluna's global panel and technology.

Itzhak Fisher, EVP of Global Business Development at Nielsen, comments: 'Nielsen is delighted to have found the right home for Harris Interactive Europe. Nielsen, Harris Interactive and Toluna have been collaborators and customers of one another for many years and we look forward to our continued relationship.'

Harris struggled with revenue declines for several years before bringing back its former COO Al Angrisani to implement a turnaround - it subsequently closed offices in Princeton, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Shanghai, sub-let excess space and restructured in the UK, and sold its Stockport, UK call centre. Despite this, results were still flat last November, driven by declines in the US and German operations, and later that month, Nielsen stepped in to acquire the company, in a deal since valued at around $118.4m.

Web sites: www.toluna-group.com , www.harrisinteractive.com and www.nielsen.com .