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YouGov’s shares surged by over 17% following the announcement of its acquisition of New Zealand-based generative AI company Yabble in a £4.5m cash deal. The acquisition, which includes a three-year earn-out contingent on revenue targets, marks a strategic move for the polling and market research firm.
YouGov has already collaborated with Yabble over the past year to launch its first AI client-facing product, YouGov AI Qual Explorer. With the acquisition, YouGov plans to integrate Yabble’s technology with its core data products, accelerating the development of AI-enabled features to enhance its market research process.
Steve Hatch, YouGov’s chief executive, expressed excitement about the potential of combining YouGov’s data with Yabble’s technology, anticipating that the acquisition will revolutionize how clients derive insights from YouGov’s extensive dataset. Kathryn Topp, Yabble’s co-founder, emphasized that the combination of Yabble’s AI tools with YouGov’s high-quality data will offer clients unparalleled insights.
In addition to the acquisition news, YouGov raised its full-year revenue and profit forecasts. The company now expects to report revenue of around £327m to £330m and an adjusted operating profit of £43m to £46m for the full year 2024, slightly above its revised guidance in June. Despite earlier challenges in its data services arm, YouGov’s research division experienced growth, and the company expects its data products division to return to growth in 2025.
As of 31 July 2024, YouGov reported a cash reserve of approximately £70m.
