D&B Hoovers

D&B Hoovers is a business-information and sales-intelligence brand operated by Dun & Bradstreet. Its origins trace to 1990, when Gary Hoover, Patrick J. Spain, Alan Chai, and Alta Campbell established a company initially known as The Reference Press. The early business focused on publishing reference material about companies and industries. It subsequently developed an online information service under the Hoover's name, giving business users access to company profiles, industry information, executive details, contact data, and research tools. The company expanded rapidly during the 1990s under a management team led by Patrick Spain. Spain served as chief executive officer from 1993 through 2001 and as chairman from 1994 through 2002. Other people associated with the company's growth included Carl Shepherd, Lynn Atchison, Elisabeth DeMarse, Jani Spede, Kris Rao, and Gordon Anderson. Hoover's also became part of the late-1990s internet and information-services market, completing an initial public offering on NASDAQ in 1999. Dun & Bradstreet acquired Hoover's in 2003 for $119 million. After the acquisition, Hoover's operated for a period as a wholly owned Dun & Bradstreet subsidiary, while the Hoover's product name continued to be used for business research and prospecting services. The brand's role gradually shifted from a stand-alone information publisher toward a subscription-based data and workflow product for sales, marketing, business-development, and research teams. In 2017, Dun & Bradstreet acquired Avention. The company then combined Dun & Bradstreet data with Avention's sales-acceleration capabilities and introduced D&B Hoovers as the successor to the prior Hoover's product. The current platform is designed to support lead generation, prospect identification, sales-call preparation, account research, outreach, monitoring of company and leadership changes, and customer acquisition. Information is made available through the online platform as well as data feeds and third-party licensing arrangements. D&B Hoovers forms part of Dun & Bradstreet's broader commercial-data portfolio. Public descriptions of the service state that it draws on Dun & Bradstreet data and a large network of global sources, with records covering companies across many industries and geographies. The platform's value proposition is the integration of business identity, firmographic, industry, contact, and sales-oriented information into workflows used by commercial organizations. The historical Hoover's corporate entity is therefore best understood today as the predecessor of, and brand foundation for, D&B Hoovers rather than as an independent public company.

D&B Hoovers began as an independent business-information venture in 1990. Gary Hoover, Patrick J. Spain, Alan Chai, and Alta Campbell founded the company under the name The Reference Press. Its first activities centered on publishing reference books and other information about companies and industries. The business was connected to Gary Hoover's earlier experience with Bookstop, a bookstore chain he had founded before it was acquired by Barnes & Noble. The company adopted the Hoover's identity as its information service developed. Under Patrick Spain's leadership, the business grew during the 1990s and expanded beyond printed reference works into an online company-research platform. Spain was chief executive officer from 1993 to 2001 and chairman from 1994 to 2002. The growth team also included Carl Shepherd, Lynn Atchison, Elisabeth DeMarse, Jani Spede, Kris Rao, and Gordon Anderson. Hoover's served customers that needed organized information on companies, executives, industries, and prospective business relationships. Hoover's entered the public markets with a NASDAQ initial public offering in 1999. Its independent public-company period ended when Dun & Bradstreet acquired the company in 2003 for $119 million. Hoover's then operated as a wholly owned subsidiary, while the Hoover's name remained associated with a commercial database and subscription research product. The service increasingly emphasized practical business use cases, including finding prospects, preparing for sales conversations, researching accounts, and tracking changes in companies and leadership. A further transformation occurred after Dun & Bradstreet acquired Avention in 2017. Avention contributed sales-acceleration technology and capabilities that Dun & Bradstreet integrated with its own business-information assets. The resulting D&B Hoovers solution replaced the earlier Hoover's product and repositioned the brand as a more integrated sales and marketing workflow platform. D&B Hoovers is now part of Dun & Bradstreet's business-data offerings. It distributes information through an online subscription service, data feeds, and licensing arrangements with third parties. The platform is described as covering company and business records across numerous industries and markets, with uses ranging from lead generation and outreach to account research and alerts about organizational changes. The brand's history therefore spans printed company directories, a publicly traded online-information company, a Dun & Bradstreet subsidiary, and a modern sales-intelligence product.

• 2017

  D&B Hoovers brand launched

  [1]D&B Hooversen.wikipedia.org

  Dun & Bradstreet combined its data with Avention's sales-acceleration platform and introduced D&B Hoovers as the successor to the earlier Hoover's product.

• 2003

  Acquired by Dun & Bradstreet

  [1]D&B Hooversen.wikipedia.org

  Dun & Bradstreet acquired Hoover's for $119 million and operated it as a wholly owned subsidiary.

• 1999

  NASDAQ initial public offering

  [1]D&B Hooversen.wikipedia.org

  Hoover's completed an initial public offering and became listed on the NASDAQ exchange.

• 1994

  Patrick Spain becomes chairman

  [1]D&B Hooversen.wikipedia.org

  Spain also assumed the chairmanship while continuing to help lead the expanding business.

• 1993

  Patrick Spain becomes chief executive officer

  [1]D&B Hooversen.wikipedia.org

  Patrick J. Spain began a chief executive tenure during a period of rapid company growth.

• 1990

  Company founded as The Reference Press

  [1]D&B Hooversen.wikipedia.org

  Gary Hoover, Patrick J. Spain, Alan Chai, and Alta Campbell founded the business to publish and provide reference information about companies and industries.

A subscription-based business-information and sales-intelligence service for sales, marketing, business-development, and research professionals.

• Business information and sales intelligence · 2017

  D&B Hoovers platform

  The core D&B Hoovers service is an online platform for researching companies, industries, executives, and prospective accounts. It is aimed primarily at sales, marketing, business-development, and research professionals. Typical uses include identifying leads, preparing for outreach and sales calls, monitoring organizational changes, and supporting account planning. The product combines Dun & Bradstreet business data with capabilities inherited from Avention's sales-acceleration technology.

• Business research database

  Hoover's company and industry database

  The earlier Hoover's product provided structured information about companies and industries through published reference material and an online research service. Its content supported company discovery, executive research, market analysis, and business prospecting. After Dun & Bradstreet's integration of Avention, this product was superseded by the D&B Hoovers offering rather than continuing as a separate flagship service.

• Data distribution

  D&B Hoovers data feeds and licensing

  In addition to its direct online platform, D&B Hoovers distributes business information through data feeds and third-party licensing arrangements. These channels allow organizations and technology providers to incorporate company and market data into their own systems, applications, and commercial workflows.

• 2017

  Introduce D&B HooversProduct launch

  Background

  Dun & Bradstreet acquired Avention and sought to combine Avention's sales-acceleration capabilities with its own business-information data.

  Action taken

  The company launched D&B Hoovers as an integrated business-information and sales-intelligence solution, replacing the earlier Hoover's product.

  Aftermath

  The brand shifted toward integrated sales, marketing, prospecting, and workflow use cases within Dun & Bradstreet's commercial-data portfolio.

  Source

• 2003

  Sell the company to Dun & BradstreetM&A

  Background

  Hoover's had developed from a reference publisher into a publicly traded business-information provider, while Dun & Bradstreet was expanding its commercial-data operations.

  Action taken

  Dun & Bradstreet acquired Hoover's for $119 million and made it a wholly owned subsidiary.

  Aftermath

  The Hoover's service continued under Dun & Bradstreet ownership and later became the foundation for the D&B Hoovers product.

  Acquisition price. $119 million (2003)

  Source

1. 1D&B Hooversen.wikipedia.org