D&B Buys Eyeota and NetWise

Business data and analytics veteran Dun & Bradstreet has agreed to acquire data onboarding and audience intelligence provider Eyeota and B2B data firm NetWise - strengthening its fast-growing Audience Solutions business and its capabilities in online B2B marketing.

D&B says the combined company will empower businesses 'to confidently identify, reach and engage high propensity B2B audiences for multi-channel marketing campaigns'. The Eyeota transaction is 'in the process of closing', and the NetWise transaction is expected to close in the next month, subject to conditions. The buyer says financial details will be disclosed 'subsequently'.

D&B was established 180 years ago this year, and has transitioned from a b2b directory information provider into a business decisioning solutions provider whose Data Cloud helps clients accelerate revenue, lower cost, mitigate risk and work through business transformation. The company currently employs around 6,000 people in offices across North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific, and in the summer completed the acquisition of a new global headquarters building in Jacksonville, Florida. Eyeota was founded in 2010, and works with marketers, data owners and research companies to provide 'distinct, comprehensive and qualified' audience data. The firm operates in Europe, Asia, Australia and the Americas and has partnerships with MR firms including GfK, YouGov, Ipsos and Comscore. NetWise provides B2B data allowing marketing teams to execute multi-channel campaigns across platforms and channels.

After completion D&B says it will be able to help clients link professional contact data to consumer data for higher digital match rates, and an international ecosystem of digital activation platforms and global data - allowing them to build on existing investments with the company and more readily activate their data in social, search and display advertising campaigns.

Dun & Bradstreet CEO Anthony Jabbour says of the announcements: 'Just as our clients rely on the D-U-N-S number for precision in their off-line data, these acquisitions will help to provide them with the same level of confidence and consistency online as well. With the addition of these two complementary companies, we will be doubling down on our Audience Solutions business, which has grown over 40 percent year-to-date'. Stacy Greiner, GM of the firm's Sales & Marketing business, says the acquisition 'cap several years of investment in the Sales and Marketing space', including the acquisitions of Customer Data Platform Lattice Engines and firmographic data provider Orb Intelligence. Greiner adds: 'We are executing on our vision to help revenue-generating teams get out of the business of wrangling data and technology, and back to engaging with their customers and prospects to drive growth for their companies'.

Dwight Gorall, Chief Executive of NetWise, says the combined firms will be able 'to create a complete solution for clients, enabling a full spectrum of capabilities - from audience creation to activation - at scale across many demand-side platforms, customer relationship management systems, connected TV or social media platforms'. Eyeota CEO Kristina Prokop says, 'By combining forces with Dun & Bradstreet and NetWise, we will be able to offer a more holistic B2B audience platform to our clients, leveraging a powerful combination of data, technology and insights that help clients better target and engage audiences across global markets and digital channels'.

Dun & Bradstreet has also this week reported Q3 net income of $16.6m on $541.9m in revenue.

Web site: www.dnb.com .

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas, 2024- by Nick Thomas, unless otherwise stated.