Dun & Bradstreet, which has long relied on global partnerships to address the sales, marketing, and risk evaluation needs of its multi-national customers, is expanding its presence in Europe with the acquisition of Bisnode Business Information Group.  Bisnode is 70% owned by private equity firm Ratos and 30% by Bonnier.

The $818 million acquisition, which is 75% cash and 25% common stock, expands Dun & Bradstreet’s presence in Scandinavia, Central Europe, and D-A-CH (Germany, Austria, and Switzerland).  The acquisition provides direct ownership in eighteen “strategic territories in Europe” and “provides opportunities for scale by leveraging existing Dun & Bradstreet product portfolio, data supply chain, and technology infrastructure.”

Upon close, Ratos will hold a 1% stake in Dun & Bradstreet.

Bisnode’s Belgian operations were not included in the deal.

The deal adds 110,000 Bisnode customers to Dun & Bradstreet’s customer base and provides direct access to an additional fifty Global 500 companies headquartered in the Bisnode countries.  The deal provides direct ownership of 33 million business records (around nine percent of the WorldBase file).  It also allows for the direct sale of Dun & Bradstreet products into major European markets.

Bisnode currently has an annual revenue of around $400 million, net income of $28 million, and adjusted EBITDA of $70 million.

Bisnode has been a Dun & Bradstreet reseller since 2003.  Dun & Bradstreet’s solutions account for 33% of Bisnode revenue, and revenue has been “growing in a solid manner for the past few years” in the Bisnode territories.  The remaining Bisnode revenue consists of proprietary in-market solutions.

“We are pleased to bring Bisnode into the Dun & Bradstreet family following a nearly two-decade strategic alliance.  The powerful combination of our data, analytics, and innovative solutions, paired with Bisnode’s deep client relationships and expertise in European markets, will provide our existing and future clients with vital business intelligence to support their own growth ambitions. We look forward to welcoming the Bisnode team to Dun & Bradstreet and to working together to grow the global business.”

Dun & Bradstreet CEO Anthony Jabbour

When the deal closes, Dun & Bradstreet will create an International Strategic Advisory Board headed by Neeraj Sahai, President of Dun & Bradstreet International.  Ratos AB CEO Jonas Wiström will be joining the Advisory Board.

“Integrating our two leading organizations provides significant opportunity to deliver a broader product set to a substantially larger global client base. As the international business community becomes increasingly data-driven, we look forward to combining our teams to unlock further potential, drive innovation, and deliver solutions that are tuned to client and market needs,” said Sahai.

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Continue to Part II.