Morpace and Market Strategies Bought and Merged

Market Strategies International and Morpace are to be acquired by private equity firm STG (Symphony Technology Group), and merged to create 'the fifteenth largest MR firm in the USA'.

STG is the owner of restaurant sector data firm Fishbowl, and Connexity, which in turn includes Shopzilla and Hitwise. It has also bought and sold a range of other data and insights firms including IRI, Simmons and ImpactRx. STG says the acquisition and merger will see an injection of new investment into the combined firm, 'accelerating growth to better serve its clients through stronger data solutions, operational excellence and client centricity'. Market Strategies and Morpace will be fully integrated and co-located under a new brand to be announced later in 2018, and will remain headquartered in Michigan.

The combined firm will serve the automotive, retail, energy, financial services, health, technology and telecoms industries, with an offer including research and consulting for brand and customer experience, product development and segmentation.

The merger was initiated by investment bank JEGI, which served as exclusive financial advisor to the owners and management of Market Strategies and Morpace.

Duncan Lawrence, President and CEO of Morpace, comments: 'According to the American Marketing Association, our collective firm will become the 15th largest market research firm (based on total revenue) in the US with more than 450 research consultants. Morpace and Market Strategies also share a culture of relentless commitment to 'better, faster, stronger' so uniting is a natural evolution'. He adds: 'The research industry is increasingly driven by technology. STG was uniquely attractive as a partner due to its success in the industry and demonstrated track record in applying technology to transform insights-oriented businesses'.

Market Strategies President Melissa Sauter says the merger was 'meant to be' and comments: 'Market Strategies and Morpace employees live, eat and breathe consultative data analytics and are constantly looking for new ways to apply insight in meaningful ways. When you add in our combined firm's deep industry knowledge, the result is better solutions and capabilities that continue to challenge our employees and help organizations solve complex business and marketing challenges'.

J.T. Treadwell, Managing Director of STG, says the two companies are complementary 'in regards to culture and industry coverage'.

Market Strategies is headquartered in Livonia, Mich., with regional offices in Atlanta; Cambridge, MA; Little Rock, AR and Portland, OR. Morpace has offices in Detroit, Los Angeles, London and Shanghai, while STG is headquartered in Palo Alto, CA. Web sites are at www.morpace.com , www.marketstrategies.com and www.stgpartners.com .