Gartner Buys Infocorp, Boosts Position in High-Tech Data Field

Infocorp, a high-technology market research firm based in Cupertino, Calif., has been purchased by Gartner Group of Stamford, Conn. The combination, which gives the highly regarded Gartner firm greater access to the West Coast’s wide base of information-industry companies, most likely spells intensified competition in the high-tech market research and consulting business.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but the companies said the acquisition included a fixed cash payment and additional cash payments in the future that will be determined primarily based on Infocorp’s earnings.

Gideon I. Gartner, president and chief executive of Gartner Group, said the deal offers “major incentives” for the founders of Infocorp, including Richard Matlack, Skip Bushee and Ralph Gilman, to remain at that company.

Gartner said that there are no plans to make immediate changes in the operations at Infocorp. “For the next three years, we plan to keep them the way they were,” he said.

After that, he added, “there may be all sorts of synergies” that could be developed between the two firms.

However, it is likely that Infocorp will soon begin expanding its data collection services to more fully complement the areas in which Gartner Group does strategic planning and qualitative consulting.

Gartner Group, founded in 1979 by Gartner, also does market research, but with less focus on collecting and analyzing raw numbers than Infocorp. It became a publicly traded company last July after first spinning off its securities brokerage unit, Gartner Securities.

Infocorp, founded in 1982 by Matlack, Bushee, Gilman and William Frank, has specialized in collecting and disseminating market information about small computer systems. In that segment of the industry, it is as highly regarded as its heftier competitor, Dataquest.

Dataquest, a subsidiary of A. C. Nielsen Co., is considered the leader in high-tech market research, although neither it, Infocorp nor their other main competitor, Framingham, Mass.-based International Data Corp., reveals revenue figures. (Gartner and Infocorp combined are expected to have annual sales in excess of $25 million.)

Gartner said: “It’s reasonable (to assume) that we are looking at competing more directly with Dataquest.”