Maximiles buys online consumer panelist
The French loyalty programme operator Maximiles has announced the signing of an agreement to acquire Panelbiz, a German provider of online survey panels covering Germany, Switzerland and Austria.
The acquisition is intended to extend Maximiles offerings to provide a pan-European online panel with respondents in seven countries, including the five biggest markets (Germany, UK, France, Spain and Italy).
The company says that, driven mainly by the migration online of traditionally offline activities which now only account for 20%-25% of market research surveys, the online panel market is enjoying growth throughout Europe.
Following the acquisition, Maximiles covers seven countries with over 2 million consumer panellists and, apart from local surveys, the company will also be working with other market research agencies to provide panels for pan-European surveys.
As a result of diverse recruitment channels across a range of media, Panelbiz boasts a number of specifically targeted panels.
The company provides respondents for many of the major market research agencies currently operating in Germany, and its respondent database has been built up through the Meinungsplatz online platform, which was established in 1998.
The all-out acquisition of Panelbiz is wholly cash-based, and Panelbiz will be consolidated in the financial statements of Maximiles from 1st July 2010. The management team will remain in place. With its team of 13 employees, Panelbiz posted revenues of Euro 2.6 million in 2009, up 51.6% from 2008.
For additional information: · Visit Maximiles at http://www.maximilesgroup.com · Visit Panelbiz at http://www.panelbiz.com (German)
