Online analytics firm Nedstat sold to ComScore in €29m deal

Nedstat customers, of which there are more than 200 throughout Europe, will immediately be offered the option to incorporate their existing data into the UDM system, which combines server-side analytics with panel-based audience research to produce a hybrid measurement of digital consumer behaviour.

But that’s only the first step in the post-takeover plan, according to CEO Magid Abraham. In a blog post announcing the deal, Abraham said Nedstat’s technology infrastructure will be used alongside ComScore’s existing online and mobile research capabilities as a base on which to build a “measurement and analytics platform of the future”.

“The products we envision building simply do not exist today,” he said. “While these products will likely have some overlap with current analytics offerings, they will offer a different value proposition.” He gave no further details on the blog, or in a subsequent conference call with financial analysts.

On the call, Abraham described the acquisition as “a major step in expanding our offering to become a broad-based digital analytics provider”.

The deal brings with it offices in the Netherlands, Belgium, the UK, France, Germany, Spain and Sweden, and over 120 employees. Nedstat is expected to add $4m to ComScore’s revenue for the remainder of the year, though finance chief Ken Tarpey told analysts the takeover would have a negative effect on full-year net income due to acquisition-related expenses and severance costs. The transaction, though, is expected to be accretive to profits in the first half of 2011.

Nedstat CEO Michael Kinsbergen is out of a job following the acquisition, but will remain with the business as it transitions to its new owners, after which he will take a seat on ComScore’s advisory board. Meanwhile, Nedstat’s chief technology officer Fred Appelman and chief innovations officer and co-founder Michiel Berger will join ComScore in senior strategy and technology roles.

The Nedstat acquisition is ComScore’s third this year, following the purchase of ad researcher ARSGroup in February and mobile network analytics business Nexius in July.