*Experian's Customer Insight Company to Merge with RTMS
Database services company Experian North America said yesterday that it will merge its database software unit, Customer Insight Company, Denver, with RTMS Inc., a Milwaukee marketing-services firm specializing in individualized marketing solutions. Experian, Orange, CA, will remain a "major investor" in the new company but will not have a majority interest, according to a spokeswoman for Experian.The financial terms of the agreement, which is expected to close by the end of the year, were not disclosed, and spokeswomen for both Experian and RTMS declined to reveal the annual revenues at the two companies.
RTMS helps retailers, catalogers and business-to-business companies target product offers to customers. CIC helps its clients, which include banks, telecommunications firms and manufacturers, by providing reporting and segmentation solutions. The new company plans to integrate RTMS' Archer marketing software with CIC's AnalytiX, a customer database software application. Archer is designed to help retailers build sales based on consumers' previous transactions, while AnalytiX analyzes customer information for such applications as product development and pricing strategies.
In a prepared release, Timothy J. Keane, president/CEO of RTMS, said the transaction "is the kind of strategic merger we've been looking for." Keane will become CEO of the new company, which will have nearly 200 employees and will have offices in both Denver and Milwaukee.
