NetRatings to acquire RedSheriff

Nielsen//NetRatings says it has acquired a majority interest in rival website ratings company RedSheriff.

NetRatings said in a statement that the transaction would extend its leadership in the media and market research sector and position the company to satisfy industry demand for integrated panel-centric and site-centric services for internet audience measurement.

RedSheriff, which tabulates audience data for most of New Zealand's major websites under an agreement with the Online Publishers Group, uses a site-centric system of tracking all traffic to webpages on its clients' sites.

NetRatings tracks traffic to all websites, by analysing web use by members of its audience panels.

"We are delighted to be adding RedSheriff's market-leading product suite to the Nielsen//NetRatings product portfolio," said William Pulver, president and CEO, NetRatings.

"Our clients have been calling for increased clarity around the metrics provided by panel-centric and sitecentric research to support the growth of online advertising.

"Nielsen//NetRatings, with a track record of providing high quality and innovative panel-based solutions, and RedSheriff, with a heritage of delivering advanced insights based on patented page-tagging technology, are uniquely positioned to support the needs of the industry.

"We expect this transaction to be accretive in 2004 and look forward to welcoming RedSheriff employees and clients into our organisation."

Under the terms of the agreement signed by NetRatings and RedSheriff's majority shareholder, Morgan Grenfell Private Equity Limited, as manager of various funds of Deutsche Equity Partners IV (MGPE), NetRatings has acquired MGPE's 58 per cent stake in RedSheriff for approximately US$12 million in cash.

RedSheriff's shareholders agreement requires NetRatings to offer to purchase all remaining RedSheriff shares through a process expected to extend through the end of January 2004. NetRatings anticipates purchasing additional shares and is prepared to acquire 100 per cent of the company.

With headquarters in New York and Sydney, RedSheriff counts more than 500 companies as clients for its products and services, which include:

* Customer Intelligence: a browser-based audience measurement tool that provides publishers of all sizes with robust data pertaining to their site or network of sites

* Market Intelligence: census-based rankings that provide insight into a company's
positioning within the industry and relative to its competitors

* Research and Consulting: customised research, analysis and consultation to
provide feedback on a company's website

RedSheriff has 63 employees and 12-month trailing revenues of approximately US$7.5 million through Sept. 30, 2003.

RedSheriff

Nielsen//NetRatings