- IRI to acquire ISS Business from Kognitiv
- Kognitiv and IRI form innovation and marketing partnership to explore new revenue-generating initiatives
TORONTO, March 18, 2021 /CNW/ - Aimia Inc. (TSX: AIM), a holding company, is pleased to announce that Kognitiv, a B2B technology growth company of which Aimia owns a 48.9% equity stake, has entered into a sales transaction and partnership agreement with IRI®, a global leader in innovative solutions and services for consumer, retail and media companies. IRI will acquire Intelligent Shopper Solutions (ISS), a leading retail consumer insight provider that enables collaboration between retailers and suppliers, from Kognitiv for undisclosed terms.
Through the partnership agreement, IRI and ISS will explore opportunities for IRI's retailer clients to leverage Kognitiv's unique Platform-as-a-Service to scale their partnerships, connect peer-to-peer and deliver new value to consumers through hyper-personalized experiences within their ecosystem.
Kognitiv's Executive Chairman, Peter Schwartz, commented: "As part of IRI, ISS will be well positioned to continue offering best-in-class solutions and capabilities and drive more differentiated growth for CPG retailers and suppliers around the world. Partnering with IRI makes tremendous sense as we share a common belief in the strategic application of big data, particularly zero-party data, to drive new opportunities for our clients and new value for their most important consumers. This partnership will allow Kognitiv to accelerate our vision for collaborative commerce and bring a unique and complementary set of capabilities to both organizations."
IRI CEO and President Andrew Appel added, "We are thrilled to welcome ISS to the IRI family as we continue to invest in our industry-leading capabilities and expertise and build on our track record of successful loyalty collaboration programs. The addition of ISS expands IRI's platform to provide CPG clients a more complete view of consumer shopping habits across even more leading retailers. Further, the talented ISS team brings deep expertise in providing rich, loyalty-based consumer behavioral insights, which we look forward to leveraging, along with our unparalleled data assets from more than 500 million loyalty cards, to deliver enhanced collaboration and growth for IRI clients. We also look forward to our ongoing partnership with Kognitiv, which will create new opportunities for collaboration with our clients assisting them deliver increased value to their consumers."
Aimia's CEO, Phil Mittleman, commented: "As a significant investor in Kognitiv, we fully support this transaction which aligns the organization with a global industry leader in big data and predictive analytics. The sale of ISS will significantly strengthen Kognitiv's liquidity position for future acquisitions and enable both organizations to co-invest in their new partnership to build out their joint capabilities and deliver innovative solutions for existing and new clients."
"We are also excited about Kognitiv's recently announced addition of a new President, Shawn Pearson, and CFO, Julia Wehmeyer, both of whom possess expertise in building commercial scale and high-performing teams, as well as significant capital market experience, positioning Kognitiv for a successful future," said Mr. Mittleman.
About Aimia
Aimia Inc. (TSX: AIM) is a holding company with a focus on long-term investments in public and private companies, on a global basis, through controlling or minority stakes.
The company operates an investment advisory business through its wholly-owned subsidiary Mittleman Investment Management, LLC, and owns a diversified portfolio of valuable investments including a 48.9% equity stake in PLM Premier, S.A.P.I. de C.V. (PLM), owner and operator of Club Premier, the coalition loyalty program in Mexico that operates the Aeromexico Frequent Flyer program, a 48.9% equity stake in Kognitiv, a B2B technology growth company enabling collaborative commerce, a 20.0% equity stake in BIGLIFE, the operator of BIG Rewards, one of the largest loyalty programs across Asia, a 10.85% stake in Clear Media Limited (100.HK), one of the largest outdoor advertising firms in China, as well as minority stakes in a portfolio of public company securities.
For more information about Aimia, visit www.aimia.com.
About IRI
IRI is a leading provider of big data, predictive analytics and forward-looking insights that help CPG, OTC health care organizations, retailers, financial services and media companies grow their businesses. A confluence of major external events — a change in consumer buying habits, big data coming into its own, advanced analytics and personalized consumer activation — is leading to a seismic shift in drivers of success in all industries. With the largest repository of purchase, media, social, causal and loyalty data, all integrated on an on-demand, cloud-based technology platform, IRI is empowering the personalization revolution, helping to guide its more than 5,000 clients around the world in their quests to remain relentlessly relevant, capture market share, connect with consumers, collaborate with key constituents and deliver market-leading growth.
For more information, visit www.iriworldwide.com.
About Kognitiv
Kognitiv Corporation is a B2B technology growth company with a singular focus on enabling collaborative commerce for their global clients and their most important consumers. Headquartered in Canada, and employing over 550 people across 50 countries, Kognitiv delivers real business impact by deploying a Platform-as-a-Service model to create, deliver and nurture peer-to-peer collaborative commerce across multiple sectors including Retail, CPG, Telecommunications, Media, Hospitality and Financial Services.
Find out more at www.kognitiv.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
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SOURCE Aimia Inc.
Media, Analysts and Investors, Tom Tran, Director, Investor Relations, (647) 208-2166, [email protected]
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