GfK to Sell Animal and Crop Health Division

GfK has agreed to sell its global Animal and Crop Health division to a consortium comprising private equity investor Inflexion and the current management team led by Stephen Hearn. Terms of the deal have not been disclosed.

Hearn (pictured) joined in 2010, having previously served as CEO of crop protection, biotech and animal health industries specialist dmrkynetec, which was later fully acquired by GfK and re-branded as GfK Kynetec. The company had been partially owned by GfK since 2008, and Hearn has been a member of the GfK HealthCare board since 2009.

For the year 2014, the division made sales of EUR 30m ($40m), and following the sale, its 220 employees across eighteen markets will transfer to the new company.

In a statement, GfK said the deal will strengthen its focus on business areas with better synergy opportunities with other parts of the company, while supporting the new firm's plan to invest, innovate and grow. As part of the agreement, GfK will provide the new company with access to its methodologies, processes and insights, and in addition the new business and GfK will collaborate in geographies where the former does not currently have a presence.

Hearn, who is the designated CEO of the new firm, states: 'We are on the brink of an exciting future with a new, agile organization. We will continue to invest in attracting top market research talent to deliver excellence to our clients through innovation, new product development, acquisitions and joint ventures. We plan to make a significant portion of the new company 'employee-owned' to foster this approach'.

Web site: www.gfk.com .