RESEARCH FIRM MAY BE UP FOR SALE.Byline: Staff and Wire Reports Respected market researcher J.D. Power & Associates may be on the auction block, according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. published reports saying a sale could bring up to $400 million. The Wall Street Journal first broke the news of the possible sale, which it said would likely go to advertising and media groups like McGraw Hill Cos., VNU VNU Volontaires des Nations Unies (French) VNU Verenigde Nederlandse Uitgeversbedrijven (Dutch) VNU Virtual Network User or WPP Group WPP Group plc (LSE: WPP) (NASDAQ: WPPGY), based in London, United Kingdom, is one of the world's largest communications services groups (and one of the big six advertising holding companies, the others being Omnicom, Interpublic, Publicis, Dentsu and Havas) employing . Evercore Partners Evercore Partners NYSE: EVR is a boutique investment bank and private equity investment firm located in New York. It was founded by Blackstone Group alumni Austin Beutner and Roger Altman in 1996. Inc., an investment adviser with offices in Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. and New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of , has been retained as a consultant, according to the Journal. Calls to J.D. Power's Westlake Village headquarters were not returned Saturday. Known primarily for its automotive quality survey, the company has diversified into studies of everything from cellular phones to hospital services. As an independent company, its surveys command attention that company-funded studies rarely do. While this independence makes them ripe for acquisition by a larger advertising or media company, it could also be threatened if merged into a corporate entity. ``It will be a very, very tempting target,'' said Jack Kyser, chief economist of the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp. ``It will be a delicate situation, because if they become part of a big conglomerate, people could say, that's not really what they think, it's what the corporate office thinks. It'll be very interesting to see what this will do to their credibility.'' As recently as late September, the company was expanding, buying out its British partner LMC LMC Large Magellanic Cloud (also see SMC) LMC Library Media Center LMC Lees-McRae College (Banner Elk, NC) LMC Lutheran Medical Center LMC League of Minnesota Cities LMC Local Medical Committee Automotive Sales and opening a new office in Germany. Originally founded as a home business by current chairman James David Power III, the firm has grown into a multinational, 670-employee powerhouse. Though Power no longer holds the chief executive spot, he remains active in the company and is an in-demand lecturer on business and corporate integrity. According to the reports, the company's affiliate, Power Information Network, could also be part of the sale. PIN surveys dealer transaction information from 6,000 locations nationwide, providing quick data on sales trends. |
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