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GfK Buys Into the Baltic
GfK has acquired a majority stake in Latvian provider InMind, which will now be known as GfK Custom Research Baltic. In June, the global group established GfK Marketing Services Baltic, which like the new acquisition is based in the capital, Riga.
GfK's 51% stake in InMind was acquired in 2003. The new company is the fourth largest Latvian company in the sector, and focuses particularly on financial, telecommunications, retail, media and health sectors. The staff of 16 will continue to be headed by InMind's manager Iluta Skrūzkalne, now MD.
Petra Heinlein, the GfK Group Board Member responsible for Custom Research, says the new Baltic company 'closes the final gap in our Central and East European operations, where up to now, we have not been present under our own name.'
The Group has a 95% stake in the technology-focused subsidiary, GfK Marketing Services Baltic, led by MD Ingemar Erlandsson. Previously, it serviced the three republics through its Swedish subsidiary, GfK Sverige. Dr. Gérard Hermet, the GfK Group Board Member responsible for Retail and Technology, says the Baltic States are 'among the burgeoning young markets and naturally, they are of interest to our clients... As a global market leader in the supply of market data for the technical consumer goods market, we are pursuing a clear target: to be present in all major markets, and in the Baltic region, with the new company, we have certainly achieved this.'
The GfK Group has 13 German subsidiaries and more than 130 other companies located in more than 70 countries. These include a total of 18 countries in Central and Eastern Europe, co-ordinated by FESSEL-GfK in Austria. The Group is online at www.gfk.com .
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