James Cowper Kreston advises GfK on its acquisition of Cogenta Systems Limited

James Cowper Kreston has advised German-based GfK SE (GfK) on its acquisition of real-time retail intelligence provider, Cogenta Systems Limited (Cogenta). The Corporate Finance team provided financial due diligence services to the acquirer.

Located in Windsor, UK, Cogenta provides retail and pricing intelligence data to a range of brands, retailers and manufacturers across the UK and globally as well as the provision of Pricing Intelligence Reports on a range of industries.  Since its foundation in 2006, Cogenta has grown year-on-year to a position where it is recognised as one of the leading retail intelligence specialists in the market.

GfK is a leading global market research corporation headquartered in Nuremberg.  Through the deployment of a range of solutions, the company provides research and knowledge to a range of industries including public services, technology, consumer services, health and finance.  Cogenta further enhances GfK's services in the online market, providing data on online prices and retail trends which will complement the acquirer's solutions for manufacturers and retailers.

Björn Krausmann, Project Manager of M&A Transaction Services at GfK, said: “James Cowper Kreston supported us on the due diligence of Cogenta and provided an excellent, proactive service which facilitated our acquisition of Cogenta.”

Cogenta is to be fully integrated into GfK, enabling the target to work with clients on a wider geographic scale and to integrate its offerings into the product portfolio of the acquirer.  As well as providing financial due diligence services, James Cowper Kreston also helped to negotiate the SPA and produced the Completion Accounts.

Nick Rogers, Head of Corporate Finance at James Cowper Kreston said: “We are delighted to have advised GfK on another acquisition.  The addition of Cogenta to its corporate structure further strengthens the application of online technologies to GfK's market research services.  I am confident Cogenta significantly enhances GfK's excellent market position in the UK and across the globe as it rolls and integrates this online pricing intelligence technology.”

Nick Rogers, Partner, James Cowper Kreston LLP, Tel (0)118 9590261 or email