NPD, IRI to Combine Into Single Retail Analytics Company

Information Resources Inc. will join with NPD to form a combined technology, analytics and data provider “that offers clients a view of total retail purchasing and consumption trends,” said the companies Thursday. The transaction is expected to close in 2022's second half. Terms weren't disclosed.

Private equity firm Hellman & Friedman will acquire majority ownership of IRI and combine it with NPD as an H&F “portfolio company,” said the firms. H&F will then lead an ownership group of Vestar Capital Partners (VCP) and New Mountain Capital (NMC), which will retain significant investments in the new company and have board representation once the transaction closes.

IRI CEO Kirk Perry will become CEO of the combined company and will sit on its board, as will NPD Executive Chairman Tod Johnson, NPD CEO Karyn Schoenbart and IRI Chair Jeff Ansell. Johnson will chair the combined company’s board. He and Schoenbart will continue to lead NPD until closing and will remain investors in the combined company. Perry joined IRI as CEO about a year ago, having previously been Google president-global client and agency solutions, after a 23-year career at Procter & Gamble.

H&F made a binding offer and signed an exclusive agreement in October to buy NPD. The deal preserved minority NPD ownership for Johnson and Schoenbart and retained their seats on the NPD board. H&F's website lists NPD as one of its current "portfolio" companies.

NPD and IRI “share similar client-focused, innovative and collaborative cultures, making this combination a natural fit,” said Schoenbart, who won’t have an executive role in the combined company. NPD is best known for its Retail Tracking Service, claimed to source point-of-sale data from more than 600,000 retail locations, plus e-commerce and mobile platforms, to measure what consumers are buying and at what price points. More than 200 companies, including Costco, Target and Walmart, subscribe to IRI’s cloud-based Liquid Data “prescriptive analytics” technology platform, capable of generating thousands of instant reports on consumer purchase trends, said the company.