Synovate

Synovate was a market research company with more than 100 offices in 62 countries.[2] It was acquired by Ipsos in 2011 which combined to be the third largest in the world.[3]

Synovate
TypeSubsidiary
IndustryMarket research
HeadquartersLondon, UK
Key people
Adrian Chedore, Robert Philpott, CEO
ServicesManagement consulting, business intelligence, market analysis
RevenueUS$816 million (Synovate Inc., 2009)[1]
Number of employees
5,968 (Synovate Inc., 2009)
ParentIpsos

Company history

Synovate was one of the largest firms specializing in custom research (customized ad hoc research). They called themselves the most "curious" people in the world. Divisions included Synovate Healthcare, Synovate Business Consulting, Synovate Customer Experience, Synovate Censydiam and Motoresearch.

Synovate was owned by the Aegis Group. It was formed from the acquisition of a number of market research firms such as Blackstone, Market Facts, Censydiam, ISIS Research, Tribi, Symmetrics, Proactive Insights, and AMI.[4]

Synovate was sold by the Aegis to Ipsos on October 11, 2011 for £525 million (€595 million)[5][6] The combination of the 5th and 6th largest market research companies formed the 3rd largest market research company in the world with offices in 84 countries.[7] Ipsos announced the agreement on July 27, 2011, and financed the acquisition through a new debt financing of €250 million.[8] Synovate was fully integrated into Ipsos early in 2012.[9]

Aftermaths

Following the sale of Synovate, Aegis became a scaled media and digital communications specialist. It returned £200 million to shareholders via a special dividend, sharply reducing net debt from £393 million (in the end of 1st half of 2011) to £128 million (in November 2011)[10]

Ipsos's post-merger revenue has declined every year since 2011. In 2013, Ipsos sued Aegis for £100 million compensation over deception on the sale of Synovate.[11] The case was dismissed by the commercial court in 2015[12] [13] .[14]

Sales performance
Year Company Sales
(million USD)		 Year over year change
2009Synovate (pre-merger)816.4-
2010Synovate (pre-merger)884.8+8%
2011Ipsos (year of merger)2,495.0+4%*
2012Ipsos (post-merger)2,301.1-8%
2013Ipsos (post-merger)2,274.2-1%
2014Ipsos (post-merger)2,219.9-2%
  • Calculated by using the combined Ipsos and Synovate pre-merger sales of US$2,397 million in 2010 (Ipsos's 2010 sales was US$1,512.8)[15]

References
  1. About Synovate
  2. Aegis annual report 2010
  3. Ipsos annual report 2010 section 1.2.2, page 16
  4. (in Dutch) "Marktonderzoeksbureau Synovate gekocht door Ipsos", customertalk.nl (13 October 2011)
  5. Robert Bain "Ipsos must protect Synovate’s ‘golden nuggets’", research-live.com (2 August 2011)
  6. "Subscribe to read". Financial Times. Retrieved 2018-06-20. Cite uses generic title (help)
  7. Ipsos Annual Report 2011 Section 4.4 page 12, the year immediately after the merger
  8. Ipsos press release on July 27, 2011 in Paris
  9. "Ipsos Synovate", ipsos-nederland.nl
  10. Aegis annual report 2011 page 06, 10
  11. "Ipsos wants $100m back from Aegis over Synovate Sale – Bloomberg" research-live.com
  12. "High Court strikes out warranty claim due to shortcomings in claim notice", hsfnotes.com
  13. "High Court analyses material adverse event clause", bonddickinson.com
  14. "IPSOS SA v Dentsu Aegis Network Ltd" IPSOS SA v Dentsu Aegis Network Ltd, England and Wales High Court (Commercial Court) Decisions
  15. GfK Annual reports 2010–2015 "Top 10 of the consumer research sector"
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