GfK completes Thai and Cypriot acquisitions, raises stake in Etilize

In Thailand, the firm has bought full-service agency MarketWise, which notched up sales last year of almost €1m from a list of clients that includes GlaxoSmithKline, HSBC, Mercedes, Pepsi, the Ministry of Energy and other government authorities. Daranee Charoen-Rajapark will continue as managing director of the firm, which was formed in 1994.

GfK also increased its stake in Cypriot subsidiary GfK-MEMRB Marketing Services – a joint venture with market research group MEMRB – from 60 to 100%. As a result, the firm will be renamed GfK Retail and Technology Cyprus and continue to serve as the administrative and holding company for GfK Retail and Technology operations in Dubai, Morocco, Nigeria, Egypt and Israel. MEMRB was itself bought by Nielsen earlier this year.

In the US, GfK has also upped its stake in Etilize, which provides data on e-commerce for retail and technology firms, from 51% to 75%. GfK first invested in the company in late 2008, and said that its Retail and Technology sector now holds “the world’s largest and most comprehensive electronic catalogue of technical consumer goods” as a result of the Etilize deal.