Thomson Reuters plans to buy MarkMonitor, an online brand protection and management company founded by two Boise residents in 1999 and now headquartered in San Francisco.
MarkMonitor safeguards more than half of the Fortune 100 brands. New York-based Thomson Reuters is a global information and news organization.
“I am personally excited to see MarkMonitor move forward to the next phase of its evolution,” said co-founder Faisal Shah of Boise. “Thomson Reuters is a world-class company and this combination is a perfect fit.”
Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. The acquisition is subject to regulatory approvals.
“Thomson Reuters already helps thousands of companies create, manage and protect hundreds of billions of dollars worth of intellectual property assets,” said David Brown, president, Intellectual Property Solutions, Thomson Reuters. “With the addition of online brand protection solutions like those provided by MarkMonitor, we’ll be able to deliver advanced technologies to keep customers one step ahead of brandjackers and reduce the enormous risk posed to brands online.”
MarkMonitor employees, led by President and Chief Executive Officer Irfan Salim, will join Thomson Reuters. MarkMonitor has more than 400 employees in five countries.
Salim said the Boise office of about 140 employees has been growing, and he expects local expansion to continue and possibly accelerate. The company recently leased 25,092 square feet at the Emerald Tech Center, 10051 W. Emerald St., Boise.
“With the continued explosive growth of Internet, ecommerce and social network usage, the digital world provides an anonymous haven for criminals who harm brands’ revenue and reputation, often at the expense of consumers,” Salim said. “Brands that take action to protect themselves by managing their domain name portfolios see real return on investment, including lower online advertising costs and higher revenue, along with greater customer satisfaction.”
MarkMonitor was founded by Shah and James Hepworth. Both are heavily involved in the Boise technology community.
They co-founded Nebula Shift, a software company incubator. Shah also leads b|launched, a program offered by the Boise Metro Chamber of Commerce to teach young professionals about starting software businesses.
“This acquisition marks the beginning of a transformational shift within the intellectual property and science business of Thomson Reuters,” said Chris Kibarian, president, IP & Science, Thomson Reuters. “It is emblematic of our strategy to accelerate innovation and growth within our business.”
Sandra Forester: 377-6464, Twitter: @IDS_Sandra
