Experian offloads Footfall retail data unit for £38.5m

(ShareCast News) - Credit checker Experian has offloaded its Footfall retail intelligence unit for £38.5m in cash as it focuses on its larger businesses.Chief executive Brian Cassin said Footfall, which in the year to 31 March 2015 made $39m revenue as part of the marketing services division, lay outside its core strategy.Operating across Europe, Asia and the US, FootFall monitors and analyses in-store customer behaviours to help retailers and shopping centres to understand their customers better. "Earlier this year we set out our group strategy aimed at delivering attractive rates of earnings growth and superior returns," he said. "One of our key strategic priorities is to focus on our larger businesses and geographies, where we can most successfully combine our core strengths in data, analytics, software and expertise."Cassin added that buyer Tyco, a retail performance and security solutions provider, was well placed to drive FootFall's future growth.Shares in Experian were down 0.22% to 1,222.26p at 0930 BST on Tuesday. Experian