Experian®, the global information solutions company, announced today that it has acquired Smartal Solutions, the leading business intelligence and solutions company in Hong Kong and China. The acquisition will expand and enhance Experian’s analytics and decisioning capabilities in the Greater China region.
“The acquisition will leverage Experian’s global market presence and expand our offerings in the Asia Pacific region to include business intelligence data and micromarketing solutions for Greater China,” said John Harker, Regional Director, Experian Asia Pacific. “Clients will now be able to obtain the data knowledge solutions for Greater China such as geo-demographics and segmentation services, digital mapping, data hygiene and analytical software tools.”
Smartal Solutions services are used by many industries such as financial services, communications, retail, utilities and insurance and by clients such as Caltex, Citibank, Café de Coral, CLP Power, DBS Bank, Hewlett Packard, Sun Hung Kai Properties, the Transport Department and SmarTone. Additionally, Smartal partners with government agencies, including the Hong Kong Census & Statistics Department, Hongkong Post and Lands Department, to provide quality value-added solutions and services to its clients.
“We’re very excited by this opportunity to be part of Experian as it expands into Greater China, bringing with it its expertise in knowledge solutions, local area planning and customer management solutions,” said Lucy Kwan, CEO of Smartal Solutions.
Smartal Solutions will be rebranded as Experian Business Strategies and will operate as a business division of Experian Asia Pacific. “We are pleased that this acquisition will enable us to strengthen and broaden the existing partnership relationship between Experian and Smartal, and give us better access to the Chinese market. Our multinational clients are very interested in using Mosaic and other sources of business intelligence to make more informed decisions about their China market entry strategies,” John Harker added.
Experian did not disclose the terms of the purchase.
Michelle Toy
Experian
Level 4, 6 Riverside Quay
Southbank, Melbourne, Australia
Tel: +61 3 8699 0102
Bruno Rost
Press Relations, Experian
Talbot House, Talbot Street
Nottingham NG80 1TH
Tel: 0115 934 4547
Smartal Solutions offers a range of knowledge management tools, applications and services in customer database solutions, local area planning and target marketing. Since 1992, Smartal has pioneered the integration of GIS-enabled applications with local data contents. Smartal launched SUPERMAP Hong Kong under an exclusive license for dissemination of micro census statistics. In September 2002, Smartal launched Hong Kong MOSAIC, the first neighbourhood segmentation system in Hong Kong and China, under support from Experian. Smartal is a member of Micromarketing International Network (MIN).
Experian is a global leader in providing information solutions to organizations and consumers. It helps organizations find, develop and manage profitable customer relationships by providing information, decision-making solutions and processing services. It empowers consumers to understand, manage and protect their personal information and assets. Experian works with more than 40,000 clients across diverse industries, including financial services, telecommunications, health care, insurance, retail and catalogue, automotive, manufacturing, leisure, utilities, property, e-commerce and government. Experian is a subsidiary of GUS plc and has headquarters in Nottingham, UK, and Costa Mesa, Calif. Its 13,000 people support clients in more than 60 countries. Annual sales exceed $2.2 billion.
For more information, visit the company’s website at www.experian.com.
The word ‘Experian’ is a registered trademark in the EU and other countries and is owned by Experian Ltd and/or its associated companies.
Experian’s Business Strategies Division provides an unrivalled understanding of consumers, markets and economies in the UK and around the world, past, present and future. It is a market leader in consumer profiling and market segmentation, economic forecasting and public policy research.
The division’s information and analysis supports businesses and other organisations in making tactical and strategic decisions.
It helps businesses to:
It helps policy makers to understand and improve the performance of their local and regional economies and helps investors to optimise the returns on their property portfolios.
The division’s analysis capabilities range from catchment area profiling to international macroeconomics, from understanding patterns of crime to forecasting the performance of the construction sector, and from market research to board-level strategy. As part of the Experian group, the division has access to a wealth of research data and innovative software solutions.
Client deliverables take many forms, including data licences, software applications, regular reports and bespoke consultancy. Deliver is available via any media, from face-to-face meetings and workshops to computer models, and from printed reports to interactive websites.
Experian’s Business Strategies division has offices in Dublin, Edinburgh, the Hague, London, Madrid, Nottingham and Paris and now Greater China. It also has a presence in other markets through its Mosaic consumer segmentation systems, its international economic forecasting services and via Experian’s global network of offices.
For more information visit www.business-strategies.co.uk.