The on-again, off-again rumor mill surrounding Southfield, IL-based Polk Co. has kicked into high gear. This time, industry buzz has the compiler retaining its automotive research and city directory sectors and spinning off its marketing intelligence division to one of several suitors.
Making this round of speculation even more intriguing is the specter of an auction between infoUSA and a consortium consisting of Trans Union, Chicago, and Little Rock, AR-based Acxiom Corp. Industry insiders have also indicated is another possible bidder.
Most within the industry indicated they would not be surprised if a deal was completed, or near completion, before the turn of the new year. Guesstimates value the price of the transaction at around $240 million.
The infoUSA rumors were fanned last week with the release of a wire report indicating that the company was exploring a spin-off of its infoUSA.com division. The report contained a notation near its end that the Omaha, NE-based compiler was planning to acquire a compiled database property in the not-too-distant future.
As quoted in this report, chairman and CEO Vinod Gupta said that the acquisition would add $200 million to infoUSA’s revenue.
As for the Trans Union/Acxiom consortium, while no hard confirmation was available at deadline representatives from both companies reportedly have airline tickets into Detroit in hand. Should infoUSA be successful in its acquisition quest, Acxiom stands to lose substantial processing fees it currently earns from Polk.
Harte-Hanks Co. and KnowledgeBase Marketing were also mentioned by industry sources as early suitors, but are reportedly not currently viable players.
The winning bidder for the direct marketing intelligence division may wind up with the more valuable asset of the Polk Co., if new government regulatory restrictions are implemented.
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