New York – According to a recent press release, Nitron Circle of Experts has been acquired by Evalueserve, a supplier of global research analytics and intellectual property services. Nitron is an independent provider of expert network services that provides access to experts such as, executives, scientists, academics, regulatory observers, etc. to its clients.
The expert network space has been under a cloud in recent months with the New York Attorney General looking into whether some of the information being provided to clients may constitute the passage of material non-public information and therefore be deemed insider information. Both Gerson Lehrman and Vista Research have been named in this investigation, but Nitron has not. Company executives have indicated that the relationship between Nitron and its experts is different than the Gerson and Vista models, but we are not aware of what these differences are.
Evalueserve's rationale for this acquisition is they feel they can leverage the Nitron service in their own research and consulting offerings. In addition, the two firms expect to have a wider client reach than they would separately. Currently, Evalueserve has offices in Gurgaon, India; Valparasio, Chile; and Shanghai, China. The acquisition will give also Evalueserve a mid-town New York presence.
From our vantage point the Evalueserve acquisition of Nitron is extremely interesting as it couples two firms that have the ability to provide access to experts, the ability to produce custom research, and the ability (if they desire) to start creating research that would overlay the input and insight of leading industry experts.
In addition, we suspect the Evalueserve acquisition of Nitron makes sense on a more macro level. Our current view is that, given the tremendous sea change that is taking place in the research space, we expect to see consolidation in both the sell-side and independent research businesses -- a trend that is likely to lead to firms exiting the business altogether, as well as firms consolidating through mergers or acquisitions.
The Evalueserve acquisition of Nitron is a case in point in the industry consolidation argument. As well, it is an interesting strategic match for both companies.
We include a link to the press release below:
http://www.evalueserve.com/Media-And-Reports/Press%20Releases/NitronCircleofExperts.pdf
Posted at 10:39 am by Thomas Hutchinson
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