Experian announces that it has completed the sale of its price comparison shopping business (PriceGrabber) and its North America online lead generation activities (LowerMyBills and ClassesUSA) to the management team of those businesses.
The gross consideration is US$80m, consisting of US$2m cash at closing and a US$78m loan note. In addition further consideration is available to Experian if defined profit targets are achieved over time and in certain other circumstances, up to a fully inclusive total of US$110m. In respect of the transaction, Experian expects to realize cash tax relief of approximately US$120m over the next two years.
Don Robert, Chief Executive of Experian said: “Over the past four years, we have focused our strategy on extending our global lead in credit information and analytics, digital marketing services and consumer services. As part of that process, we designated PriceGrabber and the lead generation activities as non-core operations, believing that they would be best developed by an independent owner. We thank all our friends and colleagues at these businesses for their support over the years and wish them every future success.”
For the year ended 31 March 2012, revenues for the businesses sold were US$283m and EBIT was US$20m.
Source: Experian Press Release
Experian had acquired PriceGrabber for US$485 million in 2005. A recent deal to sell the company for $175m to Ybrant Digital, a marketing company based in Hyderabad, failed after Ybrant could not raise the required cash.
