InfoUSA has acquired list brokerage and management firm Rubin Response Services Inc., Schaumburg, IL. The company will be folded into infoUSA’s Walter Karl Group. The transaction terms were not disclosed.
Separately, the company disclosed that it had paid $4 million for its October 2006 acquisition of Digital Connexxions.
Rubin Response is run by Judith Rubin-Zivic, who assumed the title of president in January. The company was founded by Rubin-Zivic’s parents, Bill and Arlene Rubin, in 1974. Bill Rubin died in 2002, and Arlene Rubin died in June of this year.
In addition to Rubin Zivic, two other daughters worked at Rubin Response. Linda Rubin is director of advertising, and Lori Rubin-Dekalo is a list broker. The three owned the firm.
Rubin and Lori Rubin-Dekalo have already left the company, but Rubin-Zivic will be staying on with the company through mid-2007 in a consultative role, primarily assisting with the transition, according to Ed Mallin, president of infoUSA’s Walter Karl Group. John Murphy, currently a vice president at Rubin Response, will take on responsibility for day-to-day operations.
Unlike some of infoUSA’s other purchases, Rubin Response will eventually be completely folded into Walter Karl, and will cease to have an independent brand identity. The company’s offices will remain in Schaumburg, serving primarily as a sales office, and the 30 or so individuals it currently employs will stay with the company, Mallin said.
Mallin praised Rubin Response’s customer base, and noted its penetration as a list brokerage firm within the business-to-business and consumer sectors, as well as the high-tech industry.
The purchase continues infoUSA’s furious acquisition pace. In addition to Digital Connexxions and Rubin Response, other recent transactions include Millard Group, which infoUSA bought for $12.4 million at the initial sale in November 2005 and paid an additional consideration of $1.5 million in April 2006; and Mokrynskidirect, for which it paid $6.6 million in June 2006 with an additional $1.9 million in August.
During the past decade, infoUSA has made more than 25 acquisitions within the list, data, database and marketing delivery system fields. As it did with Millard and Mokrynskidirect, infoUSA will integrate Rubin Response’s operations with those of its existing list management, list brokerage subsidiary, Walter Karl. It will keep Rubin Response’s current operations in the Chicago area.
“The acquisition of Rubin Response gives us a significant presence in the Midwest market,” said infoUSA chairman and CEO Vin Gupta in a statement.
Gupta added, “The acquisition of Rubin Response is a continuation of infoUSA’s strategy to consolidate the fragmented list brokerage and management industry, and offer a one-stop solution strategy.”
In its third-quarter results, which it released concurrent with the Rubin Response announcement, infoUSA reported sales of $106.4 million, up from $95.5 million in third quarter 2005, and net income of $11.1 million, up from $8.1 million. For the first nine months of 2006, the Omaha, NE-based firm’s net sales were $309.8 million, up from $284.4 million, and its net income was $22.3 million, down slightly from $23.5 million.
The dip in income was partly due to a falloff in investment income between the first nine months of 2005 and 2006. The company also had $900,000 in severance expenses, stemming from a 41-person reduction in workforce, during third quarter 2006.
Network
