news releases

Experian Consumer Direct unveils new TV advertisements depicting real financial challenges of Americans

Ads aim to empower consumers to take control of their credit

Irvine, Calif., Jan. 18, 2011 - Experian Consumer Direct has unveiled a new advertising campaign designed around the emotional realities and credit struggles that Americans face daily.

Created by The Martin Agency, the new ads will appear nationwide and will run on national cable networks. The 30-second spots portray the realities faced by many Americans whose credit has been affected by recent economic issues or other life circumstances, and they connect to the emotion of the situation by showing that consumers are more than just their numerical credit score.

“We´ve listened to our clients and understand the challenges they face every day in regard to credit and managing or controlling their finances,” said Mike Dean, president of Experian Consumer Direct. “Products such as CreditReport.com have resources and information available to help people understand their credit, which is an important element of financial health.”

For more information, visit http://www.creditreport.com.

To view the new advertisements online, visit http://bit.ly/ead6xS.

About CreditReport.comTM
CreditReport.comTM is part of a family of online consumer credit reporting sites belonging to ConsumerInfo.com, Inc., an Experian company. ConsumerInfo was founded in 1995 to give consumers quick, easy and inexpensive access to their credit profile. It is the leading provider of online consumer credit reports, credit scores, credit monitoring and other credit-related information. ConsumerInfo provides credit monitoring to its more than 3.1 million members and has delivered more than 20 million credit reports on the Web. As part of the Experian family, it continues to grow its membership base and develop innovative products to help consumers better understand their credit.

Freecreditscore.comTM and freecreditreport.com®are part of a family of products from Experian that help consumers monitor and manage their personal finances.

About Experian
Experian® is the leading global information services company, providing data and analytical tools to clients in more than 90 countries. The company helps businesses to manage credit risk, prevent fraud, target marketing offers and automate decision making. Experian also helps individuals to check their credit report and credit score and protect against identity theft.

Experian plc is listed on the London Stock Exchange (EXPN) and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 index. Total revenue for the year ended March 31, 2010, was $3.9 billion. Experian employs approximately 15,000 people in 40 countries and has its corporate headquarters in Dublin, Ireland, with operational headquarters in Nottingham, UK; Costa Mesa, California; and São Paulo, Brazil.

For more information, visit http://www.experianplc.com.

Experian and the Experian marks used herein are service marks or registered trademarks of Experian Information Solutions, Inc. Other product and company names mentioned herein are the property of their respective owners.

Acquisition of Mighty Net, Inc

21 September 2010

Experian, the global information services company, is pleased to announce that it has acquired substantially all the assets of Mighty Net, Inc (Mighty Net), a provider of online credit monitoring services to consumers. The purchase price is US$207.5m which will be funded from Experian's existing cash resources.

Business description
Founded in 1996, Mighty Net provides online services to US consumers interested in managing their credit behavior. Mighty Net's key products include bureau reports, bureau scores, credit score tracking and credit file monitoring services, which are provided directly to consumers on a subscription basis. As at 30 June 2010, Mighty Net had approximately 680,000 subscribers in the US. Mighty Net's products are marketed online through its CreditReport.com, CreditScore.com and MyCreditScore.com websites.

Strategic rationale
Experian is the US leader in providing credit monitoring services directly to consumers through its Consumer Direct business. The acquisition of Mighty Net brings attractive consumer brands to Experian and further consolidates Experian's position in this market:

  • Mighty Net's core assets include the consumer marketing brands CreditReport.com, CreditScore.com and MyCreditScore.com, and are highly complementary to Experian's suite of credit monitoring brands, which include FreeCreditScore.com, FreeCreditReport.com and ProtectMyID.com. The acquisition broadens the base of consumer marketing brands, enabling Experian to benefit from more effective and efficient marketing spend.
  • In addition, Experian expects to increase revenue per Mighty Net member by applying the same successful marketing techniques used in its core Consumer Direct business to improve retention rates and up sell of additional products.
  • Experian expects to realize significant cost synergies in the areas of technology, infrastructure and back office functions. Experian estimates that, on an annualized basis, savings will reach approximately US$4m in the year to 31 March 2012 and US$5-6m in the year to 31 March 2013.

Financial performance
In the year to 31 December 2009, Mighty Net generated revenue of US$115m and EBIT of US$28m, with expected revenue growth of 10% in the year to 31 December 2010. Certain channels and lines of business at Mighty Net will be discontinued post acquisition, which will result in adjustment to revenue and EBIT going forward. Pro forma revenue from continuing activities is expected to be c. US$105m in the year to 31 December 2010.

The structure of the transaction provides Experian with an opportunity to realize a cash tax benefit from the amortization of the intangible goodwill generated on acquisition. Experian estimates that the net present value of this tax benefit will be approximately US$45-50m, equivalent to a net cash benefit of c. US$5m per annum for the next 15 years.

Mighty Net is 100% owned by its founders and the assets acquired will form part of Experian's North America Interactive division.