Gannett Acquires Location and Reputation Management Software Company SweetIQ Analytics Corp.
April 20 2017 - 4:15PM
Business Wire
Deal Enhances Gannett’s Digital Marketing Suite for Local
Businesses and National Brands
Gannett Co., Inc. (“Gannett” or “company”) (NYSE: GCI),
announced today that it has acquired SweetIQ Analytics Corp.
("SweetIQ”), expanding the ReachLocal digital marketing suite of
products. SweetIQ is a leading provider of location and reputation
management Software-as-a-Service (“SaaS”) solutions that enable
businesses to manage their location data and measure consumer
engagement. The acquisition accelerates the company’s product
roadmap and enhances its ability to help businesses measure results
of their digital marketing investments. SweetIQ is headquartered in
Montreal, Quebec and has a sales office in Irvine, California.
The acquisition marks an important milestone in Gannett’s
digital transformation, and follows Gannett’s announcement earlier
this year that it has launched a phased rollout of ReachLocal to
its 109 local markets. “SweetIQ’s advanced technology, analytical
expertise and experienced team will deliver significant value to
our local and national clients,” said Bob Dickey, chief executive
officer of Gannett. “As we roll out ReachLocal’s digital marketing
services across the USA TODAY NETWORK, SweetIQ will play a pivotal
role in helping our clients achieve superior returns on their
digital marketing investments.”
“Businesses want to work with one company that they can trust to
help them with all of their digital marketing efforts,” said Sharon
Rowlands, chief executive officer of ReachLocal. “This acquisition
adds strong product offerings in local listings and reputation
management to our suite of digital marketing solutions and
strengthens our value proposition with multi-location and national
brands. By adding SweetIQ to our portfolio, we can further provide
our customers with data-driven insights that drive real-world
results.”
“We are thrilled to join the Gannett and ReachLocal team,” said
Mohannad El-Barachi, chief executive officer of SweetIQ. “Since
inception, we have had an unwavering commitment to solve
online-to-offline attribution and help businesses better connect
with hyper-local consumers. By leveraging Gannett’s and
ReachLocal’s large salesforces and their deep relationships, we
will be able to quickly expedite reaching these goals and further
propel our rapid growth, cementing our position as a market leader
in location and reputation management.”
SweetIQ’s customers include hundreds of Fortune 500 brands and
local businesses across the United States and Canada. Its
technology integrates with all major online directories to help
customers manage addresses, hours of operation for their store
locations and other information, as well as consumer reviews in a
single place through the SweetIQ dashboard.
About SweetIQ
SweetIQ is an industry leading location-based marketing
analytics and automation company. The company delivers software for
multi-location brands, marketing agencies, and SMB resellers,
enabling them to launch and execute marketing campaigns to convert
online searches to in-store foot traffic. SweetIQ was co-founded in
2010 by Mohannad El-Barachi and Michael Mire.
About ReachLocal
ReachLocal helps local businesses grow and operate their
business better with leading technology and expert service for our
clients' lead generation and conversion. A subsidiary of Gannett
Company, Inc. (NYSE: GCI), ReachLocal is headquartered in Woodland
Hills, Calif. and operates in four regions: Asia-Pacific, Europe,
Latin America and North America.
About Gannett
Gannett Co., Inc. (NYSE: GCI) is a next-generation media company
committed to strengthening communities across our network. Through
trusted, compelling content and unmatched local-to-national reach,
Gannett touches the lives of more than 110 million people monthly.
With more than 120 markets internationally, it is known for
Pulitzer Prize-winning newsrooms, powerhouse brands such as USA
TODAY and specialized media properties. To connect with us, visit
www.gannett.com.
FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS
Certain statements in this release may be forward looking in
nature or constitute "forward-looking statements" as defined in the
Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including
statements regarding the benefits of the acquisition of SweetIQ.
Forward-looking statements include all statements that are not
historical facts and can typically be identified by words such as
"believe," "expect," "estimate," "predict," "target," "potential,"
"likely," "continue," "ongoing," "could," "should," "intend,"
"may," "might," "plan," "seek," "anticipate," "project" and similar
expressions, as well as variations or negatives of these words. Any
such statements speak only as of the date the statements were made
and are not guarantees of future performance. The matters discussed
in these forward-looking statements are subject to a number of
risks, trends, uncertainties and other factors that could cause
actual results and developments to differ materially from those
projected, anticipated or implied in the forward-looking
statements. These factors include, among other things, economic
conditions affecting the newspaper publishing and digital marketing
businesses and Gannett's ability to successfully integrate
SweetIQ’s operations and employees with Gannett's existing
business. In addition, actual results are subject to other risks
and uncertainties that relate more broadly to Gannett and SweetIQ’s
overall businesses, including those more fully described in
Gannett's filings with the SEC, including its annual report on Form
10-K for the fiscal year ended December 25, 2016.
You should not unduly rely on forward-looking statements because
actual results could differ materially from those expressed in any
forward-looking statements. In addition, any forward-looking
statement applies only as of the date on which it is made. We do
not plan to, and undertake no obligation to, update any
forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances that
occur after the date on which such statements are made or to
reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.
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version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170420006507/en/
Gannett Co., Inc.Investor Contact:Michael DickersonVice
President, Investor Relations & Real Estate(703)
854-6185mdickerson@gannett.comorMedia Contact:Amber
AllmanVice President, Corporate Events & Communications(703)
854-5358aallman@gannett.com
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