Archer buys Dun & Bradstreet's Australasia credit-checking unit

The company provides credit-checking and debt recovery services, delivers data-based sales and marketing solutions, and offers risk assessment and analytics in a variety of areas. Two thirds of the Australia and New Zealand business is consumer-related and so was deemed non-core to D&B's business-to-business (B2B) focus in other markets.

Archer's newly-formed Credit Data Solutions entity will take ownership of the assets and establish a partnership with D&B's worldwide network to provide commercial solutions in the region. D&B has approximately 25 other partners on four continents in the B2B services space.

"We believe there are many opportunities to invest in and grow each of these businesses. We are looking forward to working closely with the Dun & Bradstreet ANZ management team and to being a valuable member of Dun & Bradstreet's worldwide network," Frank Heckes, an investment director with Archer, said in a statement.

D&B claims to maintain the world's largest commercial database, with over 240 million company records derived from 30,000 data sources and updated five million times per day. It has more than 34,000 clients - including 87% of the Fortune 500 - typically integrating its services into established systems, workflows and cloud-based apps.

The company reported revenue of $1.68 billion in 2014, up from $1.65 billion the previous year. Net income dropped to $114.4 million from $371.8 million over the same period. Asia Pacific accounted for 11% of revenue in 2014, compared to 74% for North America and 15% for Europe and other international markets.

D&B's major competitor in Australia is Veda Group, which was acquired by Pacific Equity Partners (PEP) and Merrill Lynch Global Private Equity in 2007 for A$963 million. PEP bought Merrill's position in 2011 and listed Veda in late 2013, taking A$276.4 million off the table at the IPO. The PE firm generated a further A$1.18 billion through subsequent public market sales, completing its exit earlier this year.

Archer has A$3 billion under management across mid-market and lower mid-market buyout strategies. The most recent mid-market buyout fund - which targets businesses with an enterprise value of A$150-700 million - closed in late 2011 at A$1.5 billion. However, last year the GP returned A$300 million in commitments to LPs due to slower-than-expected deployment.

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• Topics
• Buyouts
• Australasia
• Financials
• buyout
• Archer Capital
• Financial Services
• Australia
• New Zealand