Forrester announced plans to acquire SiriusDecisions in a cash deal valued at $245 million. The deal is expected to close in January 2019, pending pre-determined legal and financial obligations.
During a press and investor briefing, the companies said the acquisition positions them to provide a combined strategic and operational strategy that will better serve their customer base. With just under 280 accounts shared between both companies, the deal provides ample cross-sell opportunities to existing Forrester and SiriusDecisions customers.
Forrester also aims to leverage the deal to:
- Extend SiriusDecisions’ products to new roles, including CIOs, CX leaders and B2C CMOs;
- Expand SiriusDecisions’ global reach into Europe and Asia;
- Bring SiriusDecisions to new verticals, such as financial services, healthcare and other industries;
- Scale the companies to serve more clients and provide greater value.
“This was not a strategic stretch for us, which is why we’ve been talking to [SiriusDecisions] for quite a while,” said George Colony, Chairman and CEO of Forrester, during a press conference. “This is about strategy and operations. Forrester brings strategy to our clients and SiriusDecisions brings operations excellence … Our clients will now know the strategy of what to do, and with the addition of SiriusDecisions, they will know how to do it.”
The SiriusDecisions acquisition is the largest transaction in Forrester history. The company previously acquired Giga Information Group in 2003 for $50 million and more recently acquired FeedbackNow and GlimpzIt in July. The company hinted that these acquisitions, as well as the addition of SiriusDecisions, will be used to fuel a new customer experience cloud to be released in the new year. In addition, Forrester said SiriusDecisions is expected to add $100 million in company revenue and $0.10 to $0.20 in earnings per share for 2019.
Colony indicated SiriusDecisions will continue to operate as a separate entity. While Forrester plans to consolidate and close duplicate office locations, Colony said the acquisition will not eliminate SiriusDecisions employees.
According to Colony, Tony Jaros, President and Chief Product Officer of SiriusDecisions, and Brian Clark, Global Head of Sales and Client Success, will come to Forrester to run the product line and salesforce, respectively. SiriusDecisions Co-Founders Richard Eldh and John Neeson will be on track for emeritus positions by the end of Q1 2019, but will remain with Forrester on a consulting basis.
“Allying with Forrester changes the game for our clients and accelerates our growth across industries, regions and business functions,” said Eldh in a statement. “Beyond the powerful synergies of our two firms, what will make this work is our shared passion for our clients’ success.”
