Forrester Research is set to acquire SiriusDecisions for a whopping $245 million in a deal that will aid Forrester to expand into verticals beyond B2B. The deal will result in the two businesses combining their acumen to offer broader access to research and advisory content, data, and tools. SiriusDecisions will, however, continue to remain a distinct brand within the Forrester Group and no management changes are expected to be made.
According to Forrester’s Chief Marketing Officer Victor Milligan, the revamped offering will see Forrester continue to aid marketers’ “change agenda” while its purchase will solve operational, demand generation challenges. “CMOs and marketing teams now have a broader remit for growth and that’s different from allocating resources to advertising,” he said. “As CMOs broaden their outlook for growth both in terms of acquisition and enrichment we do see them making more monies available for these kinds of offerings.”
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Forrester will take SiriusDecisions’ current B2B offerings and map it onto other verticals, such as financial services, retail, healthcare, energy, and utilities, as well as into newer markets throughout EMEA and APAC. The platform will also be marketed to executives outside of marketing, sales and product, with IT and ‘customer experience’ professionals earmarked as new clients.
George Colony, Forrester’s Chairman, and Chief Executive Officer said: “Today’s announcement was driven by our clients. Empowered customers and the disruptive power of technology are forcing business and technology leaders to take decisive action and make deep-rooted changes while delivering quarterly results. The combined value of Forrester’s strategic and SiriusDecisions’ operational capabilities will help our clients change and grow in tumultuous times.”
Rich Eldh, SiriusDecisions’ Co-Founder and Co-Chief Executive Officer, added: “Allying with Forrester changes the game for our clients and accelerates our growth across industries, regions, and business functions. Beyond the powerful synergies of our two firms what will make this work is our shared passion for our clients’ success.”
Michael Doyle, Forrester’s Chief Financial Officer, expects the deal to add around $100 million to the company’s revenue in 2019 on a pro forma basis. The transaction is expected to close in January 2019.
