Experian buys Japanese ESP A-Care Systems

Experian announced January 7 that it has purchased an 88.5% stake of A-Care Systems, an e-mail service provider based in Japan. The newly acquired company will be part of the Experian CheetahMail unit, though Experian did not say in a statement whether it will rebrand the company.

A-Care has more than 1,000 clients and 160 employees. The acquisition gives Experian an e-mail marketing presence in 10 countries. Calls to Experian were not immediately returned.

Experian has expanded its CheetahMail brand internationally in recent years, and has established a presence in the UK, France, Germany, Spain and the Netherlands, as well as the Asia Pacific region. Most recently, CheetahMail opened an office in South Africa this past November.

"As e-mail continues to grow globally for both consumers and businesses, it's critical to deliver e-mails that are highly engaging and relevant to individual customers," said Matt Seeley, president of Experian's Marketing Services Platforms division, adding that the buy “further expands Experian Marketing Services global reach and breadth of offerings.”

Before the acquisition, Experian services available in Japan included Experian Mosaic, a geo-demographic segmentation system; Experian Marketing Analytics; commercial credit reports; and Decision Analytics offerings.

Ken Sansom, president of Experian Asia Pacific, said in a statement that the acquisition “will help Japanese companies connect with their customers through individually targeted campaigns.”