Taylor Nelson Sofres
Encyclopedia
Taylor Nelson Sofres is a leading market research
and market information group. Formerly listed on the London Stock Exchange
and a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index
, the firm was acquired by WPP Group
in October 2008 for 1.6 billion pounds.
. Since then, various mergers and acquisitions
involving large companies from the US, Europe and Asia Pacific eventually became the Taylor Nelson Sofres group.
The 1960s saw the establishment of the six main companies that today form part of TNS. Starting with NFO in the 1940s, Intersearch in the US in 1960; then AGB in the UK in 1962; Sofres in France in 1963; Frank Small Associates (FSA) in Australia in 1964; Taylor Nelson in the UK in 1965. Over the 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s, these companies grew significantly as individual businesses.
The 1990s and early years of the new millennium saw consolidation in the industry. In 1992, Sofres acquired Secodip. In 1992, Taylor Nelson joined with AGB. In 1997, Sofres combined with FSA. In 1997, Sofres acquired Intersearch and then merged with Taylor Nelson AGB. In 2000, Taylor Nelson Sofres acquired CMR, followed by the NFO WorldGroup in 2003.
The TNS Group continues to grow, mainly by acquiring small research companies to strengthen its position in markets in which it already has a presence. For example, in December 2007, TNS acquired Landis Strategy & Innovation in the United States, a specialist research-based consultancy.
In the same month, TNS announced that it had reached agreement to increase its ownership of LatinPanel Holdings from 33.3% to 100%. TNS was formerly a joint venture partner with the NPD Group and the IBOPE Group in this continuous consumer panel business serving Latin America operating in 15 countries in Latin America, and covering 96% of the region’s GDP, providing local and international clients with access to a household research panel across the packaged groceries, toiletries and cosmetics, fresh foods and textile retail markets.
In early March 2008 TNS announced the merging of its North American operating units TNS Media Intelligence, TNS Media Research with the recently acquired firms Compete and Cymfony to create TNS Media Group.
On 29 April 2008 TNS announced that it was in talks to merge with German market research company GfK
. The announcement was followed in May by two conditional offers from WPP
to buy TNS for a combination of cash and shares, both of which were rejected by TNS’s board. The hostile WPP
bid led to GfK
and TNS abandoning their merger plans. GfK
sought without success to find backing for a rival offer, leaving WPP
’s hostile bid as the only one on the table. On 9 October 2008 WPP
declared that its latest bid had been successful and that it was buying TNS for $1.93bn. TNS now sits in WPP
’s Kantar Group. Many Kantar subsidiary companies are currently undergoing restructuring and rebranding as a result of the TNS deal. TNS itself will see various units either merged with other Kantar units or spun out into separate Kantar entities.
TNS separates its worldwide operations in over eighty countries into four main divisions: North America
, Europe
, Asia Pacific and emerging markets.
Market research
Market research is any organized effort to gather information about markets or customers. It is a very important component of business strategy...
and market information group. Formerly listed on the London Stock Exchange
London Stock Exchange
The London Stock Exchange is a stock exchange located in the City of London within the United Kingdom. , the Exchange had a market capitalisation of US$3.7495 trillion, making it the fourth-largest stock exchange in the world by this measurement...
and a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index
FTSE 250 Index
The FTSE 250 Index is a capitalisation-weighted index consisting of the 101st to the 350th largest companies on the London Stock Exchange. Promotions to and demotions from the index take place quarterly in March, June, September and December...
, the firm was acquired by WPP Group
WPP Group
WPP plc is a global media communications services company with its main management office in London, United Kingdom and its executive office in Dublin, Ireland. It is the world's largest advertising group by revenues, and employs over 150,000 people in 2,400 offices in 107 countries...
in October 2008 for 1.6 billion pounds.
History
The history of TNS as a market research company began in 1946 with the establishment of National Family Opinion (NFO) in the United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Since then, various mergers and acquisitions
Mergers and acquisitions
Mergers and acquisitions refers to the aspect of corporate strategy, corporate finance and management dealing with the buying, selling, dividing and combining of different companies and similar entities that can help an enterprise grow rapidly in its sector or location of origin, or a new field or...
involving large companies from the US, Europe and Asia Pacific eventually became the Taylor Nelson Sofres group.
The 1960s saw the establishment of the six main companies that today form part of TNS. Starting with NFO in the 1940s, Intersearch in the US in 1960; then AGB in the UK in 1962; Sofres in France in 1963; Frank Small Associates (FSA) in Australia in 1964; Taylor Nelson in the UK in 1965. Over the 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s, these companies grew significantly as individual businesses.
The 1990s and early years of the new millennium saw consolidation in the industry. In 1992, Sofres acquired Secodip. In 1992, Taylor Nelson joined with AGB. In 1997, Sofres combined with FSA. In 1997, Sofres acquired Intersearch and then merged with Taylor Nelson AGB. In 2000, Taylor Nelson Sofres acquired CMR, followed by the NFO WorldGroup in 2003.
The TNS Group continues to grow, mainly by acquiring small research companies to strengthen its position in markets in which it already has a presence. For example, in December 2007, TNS acquired Landis Strategy & Innovation in the United States, a specialist research-based consultancy.
In the same month, TNS announced that it had reached agreement to increase its ownership of LatinPanel Holdings from 33.3% to 100%. TNS was formerly a joint venture partner with the NPD Group and the IBOPE Group in this continuous consumer panel business serving Latin America operating in 15 countries in Latin America, and covering 96% of the region’s GDP, providing local and international clients with access to a household research panel across the packaged groceries, toiletries and cosmetics, fresh foods and textile retail markets.
In early March 2008 TNS announced the merging of its North American operating units TNS Media Intelligence, TNS Media Research with the recently acquired firms Compete and Cymfony to create TNS Media Group.
On 29 April 2008 TNS announced that it was in talks to merge with German market research company GfK
GfK
The GfK Group, established in 1934 as Gesellschaft für Konsumforschung is Germany's largest market research institute, and the fourth largest market research organisation in the world, after Nielsen Company, Kantar Group, and IMS Health...
. The announcement was followed in May by two conditional offers from WPP
WPP Group
WPP plc is a global media communications services company with its main management office in London, United Kingdom and its executive office in Dublin, Ireland. It is the world's largest advertising group by revenues, and employs over 150,000 people in 2,400 offices in 107 countries...
to buy TNS for a combination of cash and shares, both of which were rejected by TNS’s board. The hostile WPP
WPP Group
WPP plc is a global media communications services company with its main management office in London, United Kingdom and its executive office in Dublin, Ireland. It is the world's largest advertising group by revenues, and employs over 150,000 people in 2,400 offices in 107 countries...
bid led to GfK
GfK
The GfK Group, established in 1934 as Gesellschaft für Konsumforschung is Germany's largest market research institute, and the fourth largest market research organisation in the world, after Nielsen Company, Kantar Group, and IMS Health...
and TNS abandoning their merger plans. GfK
GfK
The GfK Group, established in 1934 as Gesellschaft für Konsumforschung is Germany's largest market research institute, and the fourth largest market research organisation in the world, after Nielsen Company, Kantar Group, and IMS Health...
sought without success to find backing for a rival offer, leaving WPP
WPP Group
WPP plc is a global media communications services company with its main management office in London, United Kingdom and its executive office in Dublin, Ireland. It is the world's largest advertising group by revenues, and employs over 150,000 people in 2,400 offices in 107 countries...
’s hostile bid as the only one on the table. On 9 October 2008 WPP
WPP Group
WPP plc is a global media communications services company with its main management office in London, United Kingdom and its executive office in Dublin, Ireland. It is the world's largest advertising group by revenues, and employs over 150,000 people in 2,400 offices in 107 countries...
declared that its latest bid had been successful and that it was buying TNS for $1.93bn. TNS now sits in WPP
WPP Group
WPP plc is a global media communications services company with its main management office in London, United Kingdom and its executive office in Dublin, Ireland. It is the world's largest advertising group by revenues, and employs over 150,000 people in 2,400 offices in 107 countries...
’s Kantar Group. Many Kantar subsidiary companies are currently undergoing restructuring and rebranding as a result of the TNS deal. TNS itself will see various units either merged with other Kantar units or spun out into separate Kantar entities.
Operations
TNS has chosen to specialise in eight market sectors:- Automotive
- Consumer
- Finance
- Healthcare
- Media
- Political and social
- Technology
- Worldpanel
TNS separates its worldwide operations in over eighty countries into four main divisions: North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
, Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, Asia Pacific and emerging markets.
Top ten of the market research sector 2006
| Rank | Company | Sales in 2006 (million USD) | Growth in % |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nielsen Company | 3,696.0 | 2.6 |
| 2 | IMS Health Inc. | 1,958.6 | 8.9 |
| 3 | Taylor Nelson Sofres | 1,851.1 | 2.5 |
| 4 | Kantar Group Kantar Group Kantar, based in UK, was founded in 1993 as the Market Research, Insight and Consultancy Division of WPP plc, a London-based public company. It is a network of 13 specialist companies, with around 28,500 employees working in 100 countries across various research and consultancy disciplines... |
1,401.4 | 4.1 |
| 5 | GfK AG | 1,397.3 | 5.4 |
| 6 | Ipsos Ipsos Ipsos S.A. is a global market research company headquartered in Paris, France. The Company was founded in 1975 and has been publicly traded on the Paris Stock Exchange since 1 July 1999... |
1,077.0 | 6.5 |
| 7 | Synovate Synovate Synovate was a market research firm owned by the Aegis Group. It was formed from the acquisition of a number of smaller market research firms. It has a number of different divisions, such as Synovate Healthcare, Synovate Customer Experience, Synovate Censydiam and Motoresearch. They claimed... |
739.6 | 9.5 |
| 8 | IRI IRI IRI may refer to:* International Reference Ionosphere a common scientific project of URSI and COSPAR* International Roughness Index, a dimensionless quantity used for measuring road roughness, proposed as a world standard by the World Bank... |
665.0 | 6.6 |
| 9 | Westat Westat Westat is an employee-owned corporation providing research services to agencies of the U.S. Government, as well as businesses, foundations, and state and local governments.... |
425.8 | 0.8 |
| 10 | Arbitron Arbitron Arbitron is a consumer research company in the United States that collects listener data on radio audiences. It was founded as American Research Bureau by Jim Seiler in 1949 and became national by merging with L.A. based Coffin, Cooper and Clay in the early 1950s... |
329.3 | 5.9 |