Press release
Nuremberg, July , 2008 – GfK acquired majority shares within market research company Chart-Track Limited, the leading provider of retail information for games software in the UK and the music and video charts in Ireland.
With effect from July 1, GfK acquired a further 46% shares within Chart-Track Limited in addition to the existing 9% shares it already held. Chart-Track, the expert in sales research for games software and music/video in resp. UK and Ireland, complements the existing European Entertainment business GfK has through its Media Control GfK International joint-venture and has reinforced the Group’s commitment in the Retail and Technology entertainment platform.
Since it was founded in 1996, Chart-Track has achieved considerable success in the field of music and video charts in Ireland and games software in UK and Denmark. The company is based in West London and one of its strengths is its strong relationship with the industry associations ‘Entertainment and Leisure Software Publisher Association’ (ELSPA) and ‘Irish Recorded Music Association’ (IRMA), who together still own 45% of the shares in the company. Chart-Track ’s data is based on POS information directly delivered by the leading games, games software and music providers in the market.
Headed up by Managing Director John Pinder, Chart-Track generated sales totaling almost 1.8 million Euros in 2007. The market research company will trade as GfK Chart-Track Limited in future. GfK Chart-Track aim to provide an upgraded offer to the games and music industry, by combining system, team capacity and expertise.
John Pinder, MD of the newly named company GfK Chart-Track Limited says "We are delighted to be joining the GfK Group. We’re confident this will provide us with a solid platform for future growth and we look forward to further developing our range of services. Most importantly, the ability to plug into GfK ’s strong international network will be a terrific benefit to our clients.”
