Marketing & Advertising Acquisitions in 2011

GfK Group has acquired 100% of Knowledge Networks Inc., a US-based provider of online and digital market research solutions, including the probability-based KnowledgePanel. The acquisition strengthens GfK's digital research and media-measurement capabilities and expands its presence in the US market, giving clients access to Knowledge Networks' panels and specialist healthcare panels.

Affinion Group, a Stamford-based customer engagement and loyalty solutions provider, signed an agreement to acquire Prospectiv Direct, the Wakefield, Massachusetts-based online performance marketing company that owns the daily-deals site Eversave, for an initial $30 million plus potential earn-outs. The acquisition is intended to expand Affinion’s digital and local-commerce capabilities by adding Prospectiv’s performance-marketing technology, Eversave daily-deals platform and lead-generation services to its portfolio.

Channel Intelligence (CI) has acquired ClickEquations, a paid-search advertising platform that serves large advertisers and search agencies. The deal, completed June 13, 2011, adds ClickEquations' keyword-based paid-search capabilities to CI’s existing product-search and online marketing services; terms were not disclosed.

Reply! Inc. agreed to acquire MerchantCircle for $60 million in cash and stock to combine Reply!'s marketplace with MerchantCircle's network of local merchants. The deal (expected to close in Q3 2011) will create a combined company focused on locally-targeted online marketing, with projected combined 2012 revenues of over $100 million.

GSI Commerce's Global Marketing Services division has acquired ClearSaleing, a Columbus, Ohio-based provider of advertising analytics and attribution technology. ClearSaleing will operate as a wholly owned subsidiary of GSI's Global Marketing Services division to broaden the division's digital marketing and analytics capabilities; terms were not disclosed.