The NPD Group (NPD)* and Information Resources, Inc. (IRI)** announced the signing of a definitive agreement to merge the two companies. The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions and is expected to close in the second half of 2022. The terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

“We are excited about the prospect of combining our companies to give clients the tools and information they need to succeed amid changing consumer behavior. Both NPD and IRI share similar client-focused, innovative and collaborative cultures, making this combination a natural fit,” said NPD CEO Karyn Schoenbart.

“This combination is a win for IRI, NPD, our clients, and our teams as we bring together two industry leaders to offer a total store view. We look forward to joining forces with the NPD team, which brings expertise in parts of the store that IRI does not cover today. As the global retail landscape continues to evolve, IRI and NPD will have innovative technology, analytics, data resources, talent, and geographic reach to best support the growth of the world’s leading brands and retailers. Our combined organization will be well-positioned for continued innovation and success, backed by the expertise and resources of our new majority investor, Hellman & Friedman (H&F), alongside our long-term partners at Vestar Capital and New Mountain Capital,” added Kirk Perry, president and CEO of IRI.

  1. H&F, a global private equity firm, will acquire a majority stake in IRI and merge IRI with H&F portfolio company NPD. H&F will lead an ownership group consisting of existing long-term IRI investors Vestar Capital Partners (Vestar) and New Mountain Capital (NMC), which will retain significant investments in the combined company.
  2. Following the close of the transaction, H&F, Vestar and NMC will each have representation on the combined company’s board of directors.
  3. Kirk Perry will become CEO of the combined company and serve on the board.
  4. NPD Executive Chairman Tod Johnson will be chairman of the combined company’s board.
  5. Karyn Schoenbart will also join the board.
  6. Jeff Ansell, current chairman of IRI’s board, will continue on the combined company’s board.
  7. Johnson and Schoenbart will continue to lead NPD until closing and remain investors in the combined company.

*The NPD Group offers data, industry expertise and prescriptive analytics to help clients grow their businesses. Over 2,000 companies worldwide rely on NPD to help them measure, predict and improve performance across all channels, including brick-and-mortar, e-commerce and B2B. NPD has services in 19 countries, with operations in the Americas, Europe and APAC. Practice areas include apparel, appliances, automotive, beauty, books, B2B technology, consumer technology, e-commerce, fashion accessories, food consumption, foodservice, footwear, home, juvenile products, media entertainment, mobile, office supplies, retail, sports, toys, and video games.

**IRI unifies technology, analytics and data to help its clients make decisions to optimize performance. With a large repository of purchase, media, social, causal, and loyalty data integrated into an on-demand, cloud-based technology platform, IRI guides more than 5,000 clients worldwide.

Logo courtesy NPD/IRI