IRI, a leading provider of big data, predictive analytics and forward-looking insights, recently completed a merger with The NPD Group, a provider of data, industry expertise, and prescriptive analytics. This merger acts as a foundation for creating a leading global technology, analytics, and data company. Through the merger, employees from all around the world will be able to provide more than 7,000 clients with a thorough, accurate view of consumer behaviour and overall retail spending and consumption trends across a wide range of industries. The merged company will be given a new name and brand at a later stage.
The largest shareholder in the merged firm is H&F, a renowned international private equity group. Long-term investors in IRI, Vestar Capital Partners (“Vestar”) and New Mountain Capital (“NMC”), still hold sizable stakes in the combined business.
The executive leadership team of the merged company will be led by president and CEO Kirk Perry and comprise senior executives from both IRI and NPD. The board of directors of the merged company will be chaired by Tod Johnson and comprise of Kirk Perry, the former CEO of NPD, Karyn Schoenbart, the former chairman of IRI, Jeff Ansell, and representatives from H&F, Vestar, and NMC.
IRI and NPD collectively possess extensive industry expertise, market-leading data assets, and strategic retail relationships in more than 20 categories, including CPG, beauty, technology, softlines, hardlines, foodservice, and food consumption. The unified company will enable brands and retailers to work together, provide better customer service, react to trends, and use more potent information to spur growth. The market-leading technology and data visualisation platform, Liquid Data, will underpin the company’s unrivalled insight capabilities.
Kirk Perry, President and CEO, IRI, said, “We are thrilled to merge our two great companies and create an even stronger organization together. Our combination sets a new standard, raising the bar for innovative technology, rich insights and data-driven advisory services across industries. As one company, our world-class team will offer a total store read and greater share of consumer wallets and stomachs. The possibilities for our clients, our people and our company are endless.”
