Ernst & Young to Buy Australia's Sweeney Research

Professional services firm Ernst & Young (EY) is to acquire Australian full service agency Sweeney Research. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Sweeney Research was founded in 1972 by qualitative researcher Brian Sweeney. The firm now operates from offices in Sydney and Melbourne, where its team of more than 70 full-time staff works with a range of clients across the pharmaceutical, FMCG and retail, public, and financial services sectors. It also operates a specialist sports, entertainment and leisure research arm.

In a statement, EY said the acquisition will expand its own Customer Advisory team in the areas of market research, customer strategy, marketing, sales, service, operations, and implementation. Sweeney Research will continue to operate as a standalone entity for the next twelve months, and once the deal closes in October, CEO Marc L'Huillier (pictured) will join EY as a Partner.

EY Oceania Advisory Leader Bill Farrell comments: 'Delivering robust qualitative and quantitative primary research will enable us to provide our clients with end-to-end services and powerful insights on their markets, and will further inform our advisory services. We will be the first professional services firm in Australia and New Zealand to be able to do this on this scale.'

Web sites: www.ey.com and www.sweeneyresearch.com.au .