Euro online info market in rude health

IRN Research has released its annual report on the state of the European online information market, showing a 14% increase in total market value in 2005, which it estimates at €3,513m (£2,407m).

The consultancy expects further growth of 9% in 2006 and 7.7% in 2007. It said revenue switching from traditional hard copy sources to online services is the main factor behind this growth, especially in legal, tax and regulatory (LTR) and scientific, technical and medical (STM) information markets.

M&A activity in coming years will be fuelled by growing venture capital interest in the sector, privatization and a desire by suppliers to move into new country markets.

David Mort, a director of IRN Research , said: “Many of the leading players in the industry, and venture capital companies interested in increasing their presence in the sector, have money to spend on appropriate acquisitions."

IRN Research tracks two main streams in the online information market. It divides revenues between online business information, accounting for 66% of total online sales in Europe in 2005, with the remaining 34% from online STM information sales.

Like this story? Spread the news by clicking below:

 del.icio.us     Digg this     reddit!