Joint Venture

1 Mar 2007 08:00

YouGov PLC01 March 2007 1 March 2007 YouGov plc & Centaur Media plc announce Joint Venture YouGov plc, the UK's leading online market research agency, and Centaur MediaPlc, the specialist publishing and information group announced today that theyhave signed a 50:50 joint venture agreement, creating YouGovCentaur. The new venture will develop specialist panels covering Centaur's key markets,which include marketing, legal, financial services and engineering. The panelsand the related research products will be drawn from a combination of YouGov'sproven market research capabilities and panel building skills and Centaur'sunparalleled market access to these sectors. YouGovCentaur will look to offerthe unique insights offered by these syndicated and customised research productsto Centaur's extensive contacts in each of its markets. Both YouGov and Centaur will have representation on the board of the newcompany. YouGov's Chief Executive, Nadhim Zahawi, will join the YouGovCentaurboard, along with his colleagues Katherine Lee, Chief Financial Officer, andStephan Shakespeare, Chief Innovations Officer. Geoffrey Wilmot, Centaur's ChiefExecutive, will join the YouGovCentaur board along with his Centaur colleaguesTim Potter, Managing Director, Business Publishing and Mike Lally, Centaur'sGroup Finance Director. Centaur Media plc is one of the UK's largest independent business publishing andinformation companies. Centaur focuses on distinct business communities andpublishes weekly, fortnightly, monthly and bi-monthly titles as well asorganising conferences, events, summits and exhibitions. In addition to itsprinted products, Centaur also runs six major industry portals providingelectronic access to its proprietary information. Centaur's main printed titlesinclude Marketing Week, The Lawyer, Money Marketing and The Engineer. YouGov is the world's leading pioneer in market research and online polling.YouGov's unique methodology enables it to create representative samples throughthe Internet. It is a methodology that has demonstrable superiority in terms ofaccuracy, frankness and depth of response - as well as speed andcost-effectiveness. YouGov is the UK's most-quoted pollster. Commenting on the joint venture Nadhim Zahawi, Co-founder and Chief Executive ofYouGov, said: "This joint venture is an important step for YouGov and is anexcellent opportunity to exploit our expertise in building specialist panels. Webelieve that the high quality syndicated and custom research data we can producewill be highly attractive to our target audiences. Engagement with high qualityspecialist panels is an essential product and highly valued. By teaming up withCentaur we will be able to tap into their contacts, accelerating the growth wecan achieve in these important markets. "This latest move is consistent with our strategy of building on the success ofBrandIndex to develop our syndicated research offering." Geoff Wilmot, Chief Executive of Centaur said: "This is a very excitingdevelopment for Centaur that supports our strategy of building high-valueinformation products for our served communities. We are delighted to be workingin partnership with YouGov, whose drive and entrepreneurialism mirrors our own.We have already identified two suitable projects for YouGovCentaur in the legaland financial division and we believe the growth prospects for the joint ventureare excellent." Enquiries: YouGov plc Nadhim Zahawi (CEO) Tel: 020 7012 6000 Katherine Lee (CFO) Financial Dynamics Charles Palmer Tel: 020 7831 3113 Nicola Biles Centaur Media plc Geoff Wilmot (CEO) Tel: 020 7970 4000 Mike Lally (GFD) Gavin Anderson & Company Richard Constant Tel: 020 7554 1400 Robert Speed Janine Brewis About Centaur Media plc: Centaur's product portfolio currently includes 10 weekly or fortnightlymagazines, 21 other magazines, over 20 online products or services, 25 awards orother sponsored events, 20 exhibitions and 80 conferences. Centaur reports its results within 5 distinct business sector segments, namelyMarketing and Creative, Legal and Financial, Engineering and Construction,Perfect Information and Other. The first 3 segments comprise principally thefollowing vertical business communities in which Centaur publishesmarket-leading magazine titles: Marketing Services, Creative Services, NewMedia, Retail Financial Products, Legal Services, Engineering, PrivateHomebuilding. Centaur also enjoys strong positions in a number of otherspecialist communities, namely HR, Construction, Antique Rugs and Textiles,Supply Chain & Logistics, Recruitment and Public/Private Finance. In addition,it serves the Business Travel community with 3 leading trade shows in the UK andoverseas and an associated web service. About YouGov plc: Founded in May 2000, YouGov is a professional market research agency pioneeringthe use of the Internet and information technology to collect higher-qualityin-depth data for market research and public consultation. YouGov has pro-actively recruited respondents from all ages, socio economicgroups and regions of Britain. The sample for each survey is carefully selectedand controlled so that it is representative of the adult population as a whole -or the specific audience that the survey is designed to measure. YouGov offers a full market research and consultancy service, collaborating withother agencies in Britain and abroad. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange