IDC acquires Meridien Research

IDC, the technology and e-business research subsidiary of IDG, the Boston-based technology media and conferences company, has acquired Meridien Research, a Massachusetts-based firm specialising in risk and trading technology, customer relationship management and e-financial services research.

The two privately held companies did not disclose the terms of the acquisition, which closed on November 1.

Meridien will become part of a new IDC subsidiary that will focus on financial services research. Meridien’s 20 staff will make up the majority of the new company, which has not yet been named, said Deborah Williams, Meridien’s co-founder and research director.

IDC has hired Michon Schenck, formerly president and chief operation officer of Financial Fusion, an e-finance subsidiary of Sybase, as the new company’s chief operating officer. The other senior corporate officers have not yet been named, Williams said. Williams and Bill Bradway, Meridien’s other co-founder and president, will remain with the company. The Meridien team will direct the new company’s research efforts, Williams added.

Meridien will relocate from its Newton office to IDC’s facilities in Framingham, Massachusetts. It will continue to produce its current range of products but plans to expand its retail, corporate finance and capital markets work. It also hopes to publish more of its existing research on core banking systems, such as commercial lending systems, which has grown out of its other work, Williams said.

The IDC deal is attractive to Meridien mainly because it gives the company access to IDC’s reach and research resources, Williams said. IDC has over 700 analysts in 43 countries.