Bilendi buys Italian panel firm Via!

Former CEO of Research Now SSI in Italy, Patrizia Elli (pictured) has been appointed as managing director of Via!

This purchase will allow Bilendi to gain a stronger foothold in Italy and expand its existing Italian panel, Maximiles.

It follows Bilendi’s purchase of Belgium panel company Ivox in 2017 and two acquisitions in 2015 – Springboard in the UK and M3 Research in Denmark.

Elli said: "With this acquisition of Via!, Bilendi is now in a strong position for further growth and I am excited to be part of this new adventure. Bilendi now has critical mass in the Italian market to compete more robustly and Via! will benefit from access to all Bilendi’s panels and to the group’s technologies, which is a strong lever for our development."

Marc Bidou, chairman and CEO of Bilendi, added: "The acquisition of Via! perfectly illustrates the group’s ongoing strategy to combine strong organic growth with targeted acquisitions."

Based in Milan, Via! was founded in 2007 and built its online access panel to 60,000 active members. It employs five people.