Polk Pins Future on Services for Transportation Industry
10 February 2000
Polk Pins Future on Services for Transportation Industry
130-Year-Old Company to Sell Consumer Information Solutions Business
Units to Equifax
DETROIT, Feb. 10 -- Signaling a clear strategic and historic
decision to focus on the global expansion of its transportation business,
R.L. Polk & Co. has signed an agreement to sell its Consumer Information
Solutions (CIS) business units to Equifax for approximately $260 million.
Polk's CIS Group is comprised of Direct Marketing, Data Information
Services/Polk Verity, City Directory, and the Compusearch and Prospects
Unlimited units of Polk Canada. Following the completion of the sale, Polk
will be comprised of its current Global Transportation Business (International
and United States), the wholly-owned subsidiaries of Geographic Data
Technology (GDT) and Carfax, and the automotive-related portions of Polk
Canada.
"With our Transportation and Direct Marketing business units experiencing
great success in recent years, strategically we could have invested in either
unit for future growth. But, as a privately-held company based in Detroit
that has developed a unique automotive product line, it became evident we
should focus our business efforts on the needs of the transportation
industry," said Stephen Polk, chairman and CEO of Polk. "This sale of our CIS
units is a critical step in our comprehensive refocusing of Polk's business,
which includes the sale of our non-automotive assets, continued emphasis on
transforming our infrastructure and business processes, and continued
investment in our transportation-driven future."
Polk's preeminent position in automotive information services, combined
with the rapid globalization of the automotive industry, means the
transportation services market will now provide Polk with its best
opportunities for worldwide expansion.
"We will reinvest a portion of the capital we have acquired to accelerate
the expansion of our global transportation products and information services,
operating in the countries and cities where our customers need us to be," said
Art Olsen, Polk's president and COO. "We will continue to aggressively seek
internal growth and acquisitions that will create new opportunity for our
people and fulfill our vision for the potential of our transportation
business."
Polk most recently acquired 100 percent of Fairfax, Va.-based Carfax, a
privately held firm that provides histories of used cars via the Internet to
consumers and dealers looking to avoid purchasing undesirable vehicles. It is
also moving ahead with completing the purchase of the remaining assets of
T.U.P. -- an automotive marketing data information system based in the
United Kingdom of which Polk currently owns 75 percent -- and has recently
launched a new business initiative in China.
"The Carfax acquisition is a good example of what kind of businesses Polk
will be looking for in order to increase our web-enabled product capabilities
and our holdings relating to the consumer market," said Jim Hornbuckle, Polk's
senior vice president of transportation. "Our China initiative opens a new,
growing market that represents untapped potential, while completing the
acquisition of T.U.P. solidifies our position as an automotive data expert in
Europe."
In recent months, Polk has also taken significant steps to expand the
information technology capabilities of its U.S. operations.
"Our goal is to make Polk not only the preeminent provider of automotive
marketing solutions and consultative services, but to deliver our products to
our customers utilizing state-of-the-art technological systems and processes,"
said Olsen. "The faster and more efficient we become at delivering
information, the faster Polk's presence in the world market will grow."
Polk has served the automotive industry for 78 years and is the longest
standing curator of automobile records in the United States. Founded in
Detroit in 1870, Polk launched its motor vehicle statistical operations in
1922 when the first car registration reports were published. It now provides
multi-dimensional intelligence information solutions to nearly every segment
of the motor vehicle industry as an analytical consultant and statistician; as
a provider of database-marketing services; as a supplier of vehicle histories;
and as a data enabler for geographic information systems. Based in
Southfield, Mich., Polk is a privately held global firm, currently operating
in Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Holland, Spain, the United
Kingdom, and the United States.
For more information, contact Dan Willis, Polk's director of public
relations, at 248-728-7827; by pager at 800-406-8457; or by e-mail at
dan_willis@polk.com.