The consolidation in the list industry continues. Six months after buying Peterborough, NH-based list firm Millard Group, Omaha, NE-based InfoUSA is at it again: On May 24, InfoUSA signed a definitive agreement to purchase Hackensack, NJ-based list services company Mokrynskidirect. The transaction is expected to close May 31.
Terms of the deal—InfoUSA’s 27th since 1996—were not released. Princeton, NJ-based investment bank Tucker Alexander represented Mokrynskidirect in the deal. While the purchase price was not immediately released, InfoUSA had paid $12 million for Millard Group last November. Mokrynskidirect will operate under the catalog division of InfoUSA’s Donnelley Marketing, which includes list management/list brokerage firm Walter Karl, which it purchased in March 1998, business list provider Edith Roman Associates (acquired in June 2004), and Millard Group.
Mokrynskidirect, whose list clients are predominantly consumer print catalogs, will continue to operate independently. Dennis Bissig will remain president. Don Mokrynski, who founded the firm in 1978, will serve as a consultant for an unspecified period of time. “Their respected and experienced management team, with particular expertise in the consumer catalog arena (both direct mail and e-mail), will remain as is and manage the company independently,” said Vin Gupta, CEO in a statement. “This strategy has worked very well for us. We don’t change their name and we let them run their business like they did before the acquisition.”
The deal, says Ed Mallin, president of the Donnelly Group, strengthens its reach to consumer and business marketers. “Part of our strategy is to acquire in the some of the leading brands in the direct marketing space, and it’s pretty clear that we have enormous reach and strength in business-to-business and business-to-consumer space,” he says. This deal was particularly attractive for cross-selling opportunities for its databases and other products through Mokrynskidirect’s established distribution channels, particularly in the online space, Mallin added. “Not only are we interested in acquiring access to great customers but also acquiring internal talent.”
Says Mokrynski’s Bissig, “Don [Mokrynski] has been looking for opportunities to step out and expand the products and services that we’ve been launching. It’s a real opportunity to enhance the growth potential for catalogers and direct marketers. We found a group that thinks the way we do.”