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Opinion Research Corporation Bought by infoUSA
Global top twenty agency Opinion Research Corporation has been bought by consumer and business database and marketing firm infoUSA Inc., for $12 per share in cash, valuing the research company at around $134.3 million, including the assumption of debt.
Opinion Research Corporation (ORC) is one of the oldest MR companies in the US, established in 1938. It has a strong focus on government and social research in addition to its commercial market research activities. The company's Social Research unit had a backlog of approximately $274m as of June 30, 2006.
The transaction is expected to expand infoUSA's customer base, drive growth and present cross-selling and product extension opportunities. The buyer company will finance the transaction with cash on hand at the time of closing and borrowings under its existing credit facility, and expects to close the deal in the fourth quarter of 2006, subject to customary closing conditions and the approval of shareholders. ORC will remain headquartered in Princeton, NJ and will continue to operate independently as part of infoUSA.
Vin Gupta, Chairman and CEO of infoUSA, described the transaction as 'compelling' in line with plans to expand his firm's presence in the market research sector. 'The services provided and clients served by Opinion Research Corporation are highly complementary to infoUSA's services... The transaction will allow our Donnelley Group to offer market research services to its customers and the Opinion Research Corporation team to offer databases and database services to its clients.' infoUSA's annual revenue following the close of the transaction will be around $600 million.
John F. Short, Chairman and CEO of Opinion Research Corporation, says the deal delivers outstanding value for shareholders' infoUSA is a recognized global leader in sales and marketing solutions and we are confident that Opinion Research Corporation can make a meaningful contribution to infoUSA's continuing growth and success.'
infoUSA was founded in 1972 and offers data processing services in addition to its business and consumer information products and database marketing services. Its proprietary database includes 250 million consumers and 14 million businesses. The firm is based at in Omaha, Nebraska and is online at www.infousa.com . ORC is online at www.opinionresearch.com .
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