Information Resources Inc. To Be Acquired

Information Resources Inc., which provides consumer purchase data to consumer packaged-goods makers and retailers, including Philip Morris USA Inc. and Target Corp., is being acquired by Symphony Technology Group and Tennenbaum Capital Partners in a deal valued at $100 million.

IRI collects point-of-sale transaction data from 48,000 retail outlets and consumer information from 70,000 households, analyzes the data, and gives the results to manufacturers, consumer product brokers, and retailers. Its chief competitor is ACNielsen, which is owned by VNU NV.

IRI, traded on the Nasdaq exchange, accepted a $3.30-per-share buyout offer from privately held Symphony and Tennenbaum. The companies expect to complete the acquisition in August.

Symphony develops enterprise applications such as real-time performance-management software for inventory and supply-chain management. The company expects to combine those capabilities with IRI's data-collection and -analysis services.