DoubleClick expands data business

DoubleClick, an online marketing services company, said Thursday that it bought the remaining stake in Abacus Direct Europe from Claritas Europe, a data-research company, to broaden its marketing intelligence overseas. Under the deal, New York-based DoubleClick is acquiring 50 percent of the company previously owned by Claritas. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. As part of the agreement, Netherlands-based Claritas will continue to provide data products to Abacus' European operations over the next five years. The European operation, launched in 1998, tracks the buying habits of more than 26 million households through about 250 retail companies. "The Abacus business model has been very successful in the U.S. and the U.K., and we look forward to expanding this model into additional countries," DoubleClick's Abacus President, Brian Rainey, said in a statement.