YouGov acquires Canadian sports research firm

2 March 2021

YouGov plc

("YouGov" or the "Company")

YouGov acquires Canadian sports research firm Charlton Insights

YouGov, the international research and data analytics group, has expanded its sports presence in North America with the acquisition of Toronto-based research and consulting agency Charlton Insights.

Charlton Insights has been wholly acquired by YouGov on a three year earn-out tied to establishing YouGov Sport's presence in Canada. Established in 1995, Charlton Insights is a business built on long-term relationships with major brands, teams and leagues in Canada, including the NHL, NBA and MLB.

Gordon Hendren, the Founder of Charlton Insights, will continue to lead the well-respected team as Director and reporting into Frank Saez, YouGov's Head of Sector Experts. Charlton Insights will continue to operate under its name for the near future until it is rebranded as YouGov Sport. Charlton Insights will take YouGov's suite of research and insights products and services into the Canadian market to forge relationships with rights holders, corporate sponsors' agencies, and other stakeholders in the sports and marketing space.

YouGov has been strengthening its proprietary panel in Canada on the back of client demand and the addition of Charlton Insights will allow YouGov to reach critical mass faster in this key growth market. The Charlton Insights team enjoys a strong cultural affinity with YouGov. This working relationship has been built over a number of years and will enable a seamless integration with YouGov's existing Canadian presence whilst also extending the Group's North American reach.

Stephan Shakespeare, CEO and co-founder of YouGov: "We are excited to bring Charlton Insights into the YouGov fold as we continue to invest for growth in line with our strategy. With its belief in the power of data driven insights and our tremendous success in the sports sector, Charlton Insights is the perfect fit for us. We are committed to offering our clients a connected data proposition that provides a continuous stream of consumer insight data globally. Canada is a major sports market and through this acquisition we can better serve the industry within Canada, across North America and around the world."

Gordon Hendren, President and Founder of Charlton Insights: "As a leader in sports and sponsorship research and consulting in Canada, Charlton Insights joining the YouGov family is a natural fit. YouGov is a global leader in online innovation and data analytics. We look forward to bringing these insight solutions to the Canadian marketplace. Our current and prospective clients will benefit from YouGov's innovative data visualization capability, quality proprietary panel and deep insights powered by its presence in North America and in 59 markets globally."

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About YouGov

YouGov is an international research and data analytics group.

Our mission is to supply a continuous stream of accurate data into what the world thinks, so that organisations can better serve the communities that sustain them. 

We are driven by a set of shared values. We are fast, fearless and innovative. We work diligently to get it right. We are guided by accuracy, ethics and proven methodologies. We trust each other and bring these values into everything that we do.

Each day, our highly engaged proprietary global panel of over 11 million registered members provides us with thousands of data points on consumer opinions, attitudes and behaviour. We combine this continuous stream of data with our research expertise to provide insights that enable intelligent decision-making and informed conversations.

With operations in the UK, North America, Mainland Europe, the Nordics, the Middle East and Asia Pacific, YouGov has one of the world's largest research networks.

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