Setting its sights on the financial services industry, IDG research
division IDC Monday acquired Newton,
Mass.-based Meridien
Research.
The merged company — which will stand separate from IDC’s more generalized IT research — will focus exclusively on the financial services
industry, and will bring on Michon Schenck, a 20-year veteran of the
industry, as chief operating officer and managing director. Schenck comes
to IDC from Sybase subsidiary Financial Fusion, where she
served as president and chief operating officer.
“There is a significant and unmet need in the financial services industry
for market advice based on a solid technology vision,” Schenck said. “By
combining the scope of IDC’s global research with the industry experience
of Meridien, IDC will be able to provide unparalleled research and advisory
services.”
Meridien currently provides its research services — focused on e-financial
services, trading and risk management, and customer relationship
management — to banks, insurance companies, asset management firms,
securities brokerages, diversified financial institutions and specialized
technology providers to the financial services industry. Meridien said it
will continue its publications and client relationships through the merger
transition.
“There will be a separate company focused on financial services, but that will not affect IDC’s broad coverage of the IT market at all,” said IDC spokesman Michael Shirer. “This is an extension of the research we’ve been doing in financial services. This was a great opportunity for us to go deeper and broader in that vertical.”
Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. The new company will be
based in IDC’s Framingham, Mass. headquarters, and will operate out of
IDC’s network of global offices.
The acquisition has already closed, and IDC said the new company will lay out its new product strategy and research offerings in the next few weeks.