Kantar agrees Qmee acquisition

The deal to acquire Qmee is expected to close in June 2022 and will see Qmee become part of Kantar’s Profiles division, which leads on primary research within Kantar.

The acquisition of Qmee follows recent deals by Kantar to sell its public policy consultancy business Kantar Public and acquire Copenhagen-based marketing measurement and optimisation company Blackwood Seven.

Qmee offers brands access to consumers’ opinions and attitudes via a consumer-facing app and runs a panel of more than 750,000 people across North America, the UK, Australia, France and Germany.

Chris Jansen, chief executive at Kantar, said: “Today’s announcement builds on our recent acquisition of Blackwood Seven and the sale of our Kantar Public business.

“Consumer insights are a key input in developing business, marketing and creative strategies; the acquisition of Qmee further strengthens our leadership position in delivering the most trusted and robust research to inform those strategies.”

Caroline Frankum, chief executive at Kantar’s Profiles division, said: “We are already a global leader in panel quality and fraud detection and prevention – this move is a doubling down on that commitment to quality.

“The integration of Qmee further ensures clients can have the greatest possible confidence that their strategies are built on trusted, representative and meaningful data.”

Jonathan Knight, co-founder and chief executive at Qmee, said: “Today’s announcement is a terrific endorsement of the vision Nick Sutton and I had when we founded Qmee 10 years ago.

“Both Nick and I are excited to join Caroline’s leadership team to combine our technology with Kantar’s proven IP and processes to set a new standard for trust and data quality in the research industry.”