Holmes Report 31 Jul 2012 // 11:00PM GMT
DUBAI--UAE company News Group International (NGI) has acquired Report International and KDPaine & Partners, as it bids to create a global presence in media measurement.
NGI completed the purchase of Report International from Optimisa plc last month, and has also merged with US firm KDPaine & Partners. Both will become part of Salience Insight, NGI’s measurement company. Each organization will continue to operate under its existing brand.
Founded in 2002, NGI's seven subsidiaries now employ over 300 people. The company is based in Dubai and operates in 30 countries across the Middle East & North Africa.
Giselle Bodie becomes CEO of the newly-combined entity. Bodie has a 20-year track record in the media evaluation industry and has previously held the posts of European COO at Kantar Media Intelligence, and managing director at Cision UK and Echo Research.
Paine takes on the role of CMO at NGI, reporting to NGI president Mazen Nahawi, while retaining her position as chairman of KDPaine & Partners, which she founded in 2002.
“The market needs an integrated global measurement company that can provide seamless delivery of metrics from monitoring to insight and recommendations," said Nazhawi. "The new entity brings together three highly respected brands known for their rigorous and sophisticated approach to delivering business-critical insight to its clients. With all this talent, we’ll plan to be the leading international partner of choice for clients seeking accuracy, scalability and value in their communications measurement.”
Paine added that the new company would address the "barriers between geographies, between social and traditional media, between measurement of outputs and outcomes, between qualitative and quantitative metrics, between marketing & PR, and between internal and external communications."
Paine's firm is based in Berlin, New Hampshire. Report International was founded in 1987 in Brussels, and has been headquarted in London since 1999.