Market Probe Inc., a Wauwatosa-based market research firm, has acquired UP-Point China, a Chinese market research firm. The business will now be known as Market Probe China.
"Now, with support from Market Probe’s global resources, Market Probe China will be able to offer a new level of stakeholder research capabilities to Chinese multi-national companies who are receptive to stakeholder research as they compete with American, European and Asian companies in the domestic Chinese market," said T.R. Rao, president and chief executive officer of Market Probe.
"We were looking for a Chinese-based research company, and (UP-Point) happened to be in Beijing, which is the perfect location. They have very good connections with the government and were interested in associating with an international research firm."
Market Probe was recently named the second fastest growing of the top 35 global market research firms. It has $41.4 million in annual revenues and has grown more than 150 percent over the last five years.
Market Probe is a quantitative market research firm, Rao said, specializing in customer satisfaction surveys. It focuses on Fortune 500 companies, financial firms, health care providers, insurance brokerages and the automotive sector.
Aside from its Wauwatosa headquarters, the company has offices in Detroit, St. Louis, the New York area and Portland, Ore. It has global offices in Toronto, London, Brussels, China, Singapore and Dubai; it also has three offices in India.
Market Probe has about 250 employees, with about 100 in the U.S. Its corporate headquarters in Wauwatosa employ about 60 people, Rao said.
UP-Point’s offices in China have three research directors, 20 research managers, 60 field supervisors and 800 interviewers. The company has about $1.2 million in annual revenues.
"The acquisition of UP-Point China represents only a modest addition to our annual global revenue," said Karen Ethington, Market Probe’s chief financial officer. "However, it provides us with a critical entry point into a huge and rapidly emerging market."
For more information, visit www.marketprobe.com.
