The 451 Group has announced the acquisition of Yankee Group, the preeminent research, data and advisory firm equipping enterprises to profit in a mobile world, from Alta Communications, a Boston-based private equity firm.
Founded in 1970 by Howard Anderson, Yankee Group emerged as the first independent information technology market research and advisory firm focused on the communications industry. Throughout its history, Yankee Group maintained and extended its reputation for independent thought leadership in emerging IT and communications technologies, business models, and user trends. Today, with more analysts covering the mobility market than any other analyst firm, Yankee Group is the thought leader in providing insight and data for a mobility revolution that it forecasts to be a $3 trillion market opportunity by 2016.
Commenting on the acquisition, The 451 Group's Chairman and CEO, Martin V. McCarthy said, "We are delighted to welcome the Yankee Group team to join me and the 200+ current professionals here at The 451 Group. For over four decades, the insights of Yankee Group have served the telecommunications industry and, more recently, the emergent mobility marketplace. Mobility is a huge driver of innovation in business and technology markets globally. Its impact in the evolving enterprise and broader consumer IT marketplaces will fundamentally shape the future expansion and strategy of digital infrastructure. With Yankee Group, we see an exciting opportunity to significantly extend The 451 Group's focus on the evolution of digital infrastructure. Yankee Group supports our operating philosophy of long-term, sustainable, profitable, global growth."
Since 2010, Yankee Group has been led by CEO Terry Waters. Post-acquisition, Waters will continue as CEO of Yankee Group, reporting directly to McCarthy, who will also serve as Yankee Group chairman. Commenting on the acquisition, Waters said:
"Our joining The 451 Group is an important milestone in the evolution of Yankee Group. Yankee Group is uniquely positioned to lead the industry in navigating the dynamics of the new mobile economy. The support and resources of The 451 Group as a strategic owner will enable Yankee Group to deepen our focus on key themes driving the mobile ecosystem—including mobile money, mobile and connected devices, mobile applications and cloud, mobile broadband and mobile leadership—and to dramatically expand our new Mobile Advisory and Planning Services (MAPS) platform. We are very excited to be joining The 451 Group family, and look forward to continuing to provide actionable research and trusted advice to our clients around the world."
In October 2012, Yankee Group launched its new Mobile Advisory and Planning Services (MAPS) product family. MAPS is a revolutionary research and advisory offering that combines the company's leading market research with exclusive daily insights and weekly thematic perspectives on the hot issues driving the mobile ecosystem. This new delivery platform provides a tablet- and desktop-based rich research user experience. The MAPS family of services enables clients to keep up-to-date with the latest trends, consumer preferences and developments that are constantly reshaping mobile players, ecosystems and technologies across the globe.
Post-acquisition, Yankee Group will operate as an independent division of The 451 Group. As such, Yankee Group will join the other divisions of The 451 Group – 451 Research and Uptime Institute – to provide thought leadership, advisory, data and certification services on the evolution of digital infrastructure.
