ALC has completed its acquisition of the List Management Division of MKTG Services. The cash deal was for an undisclosed sum.
“[MKTG Services] has a really good list management portfolio, and our mission is to have quality files,” said Donn Rappaport, CEO and chairman of ALC. “We thought it had really good properties, and the other thing is it’s a good size for us. It’s not so large it would put us out of our comfort zone, and it is large enough make a significant difference in our growth strategy.”
Rappaport said another reason for choosing MKTG to fuel ALC growth was the proximity of offices. Management-level employees from MKTG will move from their Newtown, PA offices just across the river to ALC’s Princeton, NJ headquarters. Rappaport said it was too early to say if all employees would be making the move.
List and service properties from MKTG will be integrated into ALC’s Data Management holdings, in a process expected to take six months.
“ALC has properties in most categories, but this strengthens our position in publishing,” Rappaport said. “MKTG also has some nonprofits, which we have a good presence in, but this acquisition enlarges our footprint there as well.”
The acquisition, just one move in ALC’s four-part growth strategy, adds more than 80 list management accounts to the company’s portfolio. These new accounts include The Saturday Evening Post, F&W Publications and Harvard University Press.
Aside from acquisitions, Rappaport said the strategy is to focus on organic growth, expanding the regional office network across the US and developing new products and services. “We have built what we believe is an extremely strong infrastructure, and we believe our infrastructure can support a much larger business. We are moving aggressively in all four areas of our growth strategy.”
Lori Magill-Cook, EVP of ALC, will oversee the integrated MKTG business.
The news comes on the heels of InfoUSA’s acquisition of Direct Media last week. “People who own assets in data marketing have other options, and we think we’re a good one,” Rappaport concluded.
