IRI Buys Stake in OOH Data Firm GIRA Foodservice

Retail and healthcare data giant IRI has become a major shareholder in European out-of-home (OOH) information provider GIRA Foodservice. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Founded in 1970 by Alan Gordon and Jacques Belay and headquartered in Divonne-les-Bains, France, GIRA produces information about the European foodservice markets including market monitoring, qual and quant competition analyses, distribution mechanism studies, and ongoing operator observation.

IRI says the combination of GIRA's position in the OOH market and its own FMCG market measurement and analytics capabilities - such as sales tracking, point-of-sales analysis and shopper behaviour monitoring - will provide both firms' clients with multiple benefits. GIRA CEO Jean Rossi comments: 'This partnership creates the most comprehensive service line for the out-of-home market available today. Adding GIRA Foodservice's solutions to IRI's portfolio, positions us as the leading partners for the out-of-home sector'.

Web sites: www.iriworldwide.eu and www.girafoodservice.com .