YouGov Ties Up Buy Early as Sports Unit Outperforms

Research and data group YouGov has completed its acquisition of SMG Insight earlier than scheduled, after the sports specialist outperformed its revenue targets. The company has been rebranded as YouGov Sport and fully integrated into the wider Group.

SMG specialises in media measurement and sponsorship evaluation in the sports sector. YouGov made an initial investment in the company in 2010, then announced in May 2018 it would acquire the remaining 80%. The group says the early earn-out allows it 'to build upon the sport's unit's strong progress and maximise its value, applying its specialist sector expertise to YouGov's existing data products infrastructure'.

YouGov CEO Stephan Shakespeare said of the news 'We are delighted that our proposition in the sports sector is already proving to be a great success. The completion of this deal will allow us to more effectively build on this momentum. This announcement reflects the strength of the opportunity that YouGov Sport has within the market and our successful strategy of aligning differentiated products and services, including sector-specific offerings, in a single connected data system'.

YouGov has operations in the UK, North America, Mainland Europe, the Nordics, the Middle East and Asia Pacific, and is online at www.yougov.com .