InfoUSA Acquires Yesmail

InfoUSA has signed a deal to acquire Yesmail, according to InfoUSA chief executive Vin Gupta.

Gupta declined to reveal the value of the cash transaction.

Yesmail’s e-mail brokerage and management division will be merged with Walter Karl Interactive, an InfoUSA company, Gupta said. Of the 20 employees in the Chicago-based unit, five executives will leave the company and 15 staff members will join InfoUSA.

Among those leaving is Yesmail’s CEO Dave Menzel. COO Scott Stephen will remain.

“We look at this as extremely positive for Yesmail,” Stephen said.

Yesmail’s retention and e-mail technology unit will become part of InfoUSA’s large customer division. The San Francisco unit will be run by Yesmail’s Ed Henrich, who will serve as general manager. It will be merged with ClickAction, another InfoUSA acquisition, within six months.

Total annual revenue for the two divisions is about $14 million.

InfoUSA expects the purchase will result in a bigger share of the e-mail market and that it will lead to greater economies of scale in its upcoming technology investments, according to Gupta.

“E-mail marketing is going to be an integral part of communicating with customers, just like direct mail and telephone,” Gupta said in an interview.

“We want to make sure we are there.”