Synovate


Synovate was a leading global market research company with more than 100 offices in 62 countries. It was acquired by Ipsos in 2011 which combined to be the third largest in the world.

Company history

Synovate was one of the largest firms specializing in custom research. They called themselves the most "curious" people in the world. Divisions included Synovate Healthcare, Synovate Business Consulting, Synovate Customer Experience, Synovate Censydiam and Motoresearch.
Synovate was owned by the Aegis Group. It was formed from the acquisition of a number of market research firms such as Blackstone, Market Facts, Censydiam, ISIS Research, Tribi, Symmetrics, Proactive Insights, and AMI.
Synovate was sold by the Aegis to Ipsos on October 11, 2011 for £525 million The combination of the 5th and 6th largest market research companies formed the 3rd largest market research company in the world with offices in 84 countries. Ipsos announced the agreement in July 27, 2011, and financed the acquisition through a new debt financing of €250 million. Synovate was fully integrated into Ipsos early in 2012.

Aftermaths

Following the sale of Synovate, Aegis became a scaled media and digital communications specialist. It returned £200 million to shareholders via a special dividend, sharply reducing net debt from £393 million to £128 million
Ipsos's post-merger revenue has declined every year since 2011. In 2013, Ipsos sued Aegis for £100 million compensation over deception on the sale of Synovate. The case was dismissed by the commercial court in 2015

Sales performance