Market Force Sells Merchandising / Audit Businesses

US customer intelligence provider Market Force Information has sold its general merchandising and in-store audit services to retail merchandising specialist The SPAR Group. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

SPAR says that adding these two New York-based merchandising businesses will enable it to expand its existing client base while providing an entry to a new line of in-store audit services. The acquired businesses are expected to generate incremental annualized revenue in the range of $7m to $8m.

Market Force says the sale will help it to focus on its core customer intelligence practice, which provides customer data and insights to clients.

Gary Raymond, CEO of SPAR Group, comments: 'In addition to providing us with increased revenue and profitability, we believe this immediately accretive acquisition will allow us to expand our client base and complement our breadth of services. We believe this will position us for strong revenue growth and profitability within our domestic division and the company overall.'

Web sites: www.sparinc.com and www.marketforce.com .