Empresas y finanzas

Harris Interactive Completes Two Acquisitions - Extends Reach in North American and Asia/Pacific Regions



    Harris Interactive(R) (NASDAQ:HPOL):

    Noteworthy Points

    Decima

    -- Full-service Canadian research firm - US $26 million revenue -
    125 employees

    -- Will provide access to US $0.6 billion Canadian market -
    Seventh largest in the world

    -- Combination will create one of the largest and/strongest
    research companies in Canada

    MarketShare

    -- US $2.6 million revenue - 40 employees - with recent 75-80%
    growth

    -- Proven Global Network partner - has worked jointly with Harris
    for over three years

    -- Will provide access into the rapidly-growing US$3.3 billion
    Asia/Pacific market, and serve as a platform for continued
    acquisitive growth in the region

    Continuing the expansion of its global research capabilities,
    Harris Interactive(R) (NASDAQ:HPOL) has acquired Decima Research, a
    private Canadian research firm based in Ottawa, Canada, and
    MarketShare, a private Asian research firm with co-located
    headquarters in Hong Kong and Singapore.

    "Adding the strengths of these firms to the Harris Interactive
    enterprise will improve our global service offering and provide
    increased access into two fast-growing regions that represent about a
    $4 billion market opportunity," commented Gregory T. Novak, president
    and CEO of Harris Interactive. "We're doing what we said we would do:
    grow this Company in order to remain competitive and serve our clients
    on a global basis," Novak continued. '"We believe that we're going
    about it in the right way, by acquiring motivated partners who share
    our vision and by structuring future earn outs that align with our
    goals and promote mutual success.

    "These acquisitions represent significant progress in extending
    our reach into the world's top research markets. By adding these new
    operating units, Harris Interactive now has presence in six of the
    top-ten research markets, and access to two-thirds of the global
    research market, up from approximately one-half just six months ago."
    stated Kyle Karnes, executive vice president of corporate development
    at Harris Interactive. "In line with our global expansion goals, we
    will continue to look for attractive partners in other sizable and
    high-growth regions around the world."

    Decima Research

    Acknowledged as one of Canada's 50 Best Managed Companies, Decima
    Research is a privately-held, full-service, public opinion and market
    research firm headquartered in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, with
    additional offices in Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver. The firm has
    particularly strong practices in CPG, financial services, healthcare,
    public affairs, reputation/loyalty and telecommunications research.
    Decima has approximately 125 full-time employees, and in FYE January
    2007, generated approximately US$26.2 million in revenue, about 20
    percent of which was derived from online research. We believe that the
    combination of the existing Harris Interactive Canadian online panel
    with Decima's 140,000 online members will create one of the largest
    and highest quality online survey panels in Canada.

    "We're thrilled to join Harris Interactive. This new union will
    allow us to utilize the technological muscle and extensive research
    solutions of Harris Interactive to better serve our clients," said
    Bruce Anderson, CEO of Decima Research. "I believe we will be able to
    quickly take advantage of many cross-border synergies to propel us to
    the next level of growth in the North American marketplace."

    Harris Interactive paid US$21.3 million in cash up front for the
    firm, plus future considerations tied to growth and profitability. The
    newly combined entity will be now known as Harris/Decima and join the
    Harris Interactive North America group. A complete transition to the
    Harris Interactive global brand will take place within the next year.

    MarketShare

    MarketShare is an Asia-Pacific consulting and market research firm
    with joint headquarters in Hong Kong and Singapore. The majority of
    their research is conducted in mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan,
    Japan, South Korea, India, Singapore and Malaysia. For the 12-month
    period ended June 30, 2007, the firm's 40 employees generated US$2.6
    million in revenue (15% Internet-based) for about an 80 percent
    increase over the previous year.

    As a member of the Harris Interactive Global Network, MarketShare
    has been working jointly with Harris Interactive on major global and
    regional accounts since 2004. The Company has proven expertise in the
    retail, financial services, technology, and travel/tourism sectors.

    "The rapid rise and continued growth of consumerism in Asia will
    force companies to better understand their customers' evolving needs
    and drive demand for faster and more sophisticated research solutions
    such as those available through Harris Interactive," said Ali Mirza,
    executive director of MarketShare.

    "Harris Interactive with its global technology and experience,
    coupled with MarketShare's localized knowledge and presence is a
    winning formula to tap these opportunities for rapid growth throughout
    Asia," added Anthony Venus, executive director of MarketShare.

    Harris Interactive paid US$2.8 million in the all-cash deal for
    the firm plus future considerations tied to growth and profitability.
    MarketShare will become part of the Harris Interactive Asia group, and
    the transition to the Harris Interactive global brand is expected to
    begin immediately.

    "I'm happy to welcome these two great organizations into the
    Harris Interactive family. Together, I believe that we will realize
    our vision of becoming a unified global research firm with the power
    to fully leverage our technology, our combined solution sets and the
    Internet to rapidly grow and achieve high levels of profitability,"
    concluded Novak.

    About Harris Interactive

    Harris Interactive is the 13th largest and fastest-growing market
    research firm in the world. The company provides innovative research,
    insights and strategic advice to help its clients make more confident
    decisions which lead to measurable and enduring improvements in
    performance. Harris Interactive is widely known for The Harris Poll,
    one of the longest running, independent opinion polls and for
    pioneering online market research methods. The company has built what
    it believes to be the world's largest panel of survey respondents, the
    Harris Poll Online. Harris Interactive serves clients worldwide
    through its North American, European and Asian offices, and through a
    global network of independent market research firms. Visit us at
    www.harrisinteractive.com. To become a member of the Harris Poll
    Online and be invited to participate in online surveys, register at
    http://www.harrispollonline.com.

    About MarketShare

    MarketShare is a full-service market research and consulting firm
    working with clients across the world to understand, invest and profit
    from opportunities in the emerging markets in Asia-Pacific and Middle
    East. Our mission is to help our customers gain profitable market
    share through understanding consumer behavior, competition, local
    regulations and changing market dynamics. For more information, please
    go to www.marketshare.com.sg.

    About Decima Research

    Decima is Canada's fastest-growing and largest independent public
    opinion and marketing research company, offering research-based advice
    to clients, as well as large-scale telephone, online and qualitative
    data collection. Visit us at www.decima.com.