Dun & Bradstreet
On July 20th of 1841, Dun & Bradstreet, then known as The Mercantile Agency, opened its doors in New York and began a revolution in business information. Altares has been a partner of the Dun & Bradstreet Group since 2004, with the merger of Dun & Bradstreet France and BIL (Bureau d'Informations Légales).
Dun & Bradstreet
A brief history
Created in 1841, Dun & Bradstreet’s name was “The Mercantile Agency”. This American company specialised in publishing corporate data.
Recognising the need for a centralised credit reporting system, Lewis Tappan, its founder, wanted to create a network of correspondents providing reliable and objective credit information, to those who subscribed to this “information base”.
In 1859, the company was transferred to Robert Graham Dun, who immediately changed the name of the firm to R.G. Dun & Company. Over the next forty years, Graham Dun continued to expand the company’s operations around the world.
In 1933, Dun merged with its competitor, John M. Bradstreet, to form what is now Dun & Bradstreet. The merger was led by Dun’s then CEO, Arthur Whiteside. Whiteside’s successor, J. Wilson Newman, went on to significantly expand Dun’s product and service offerings during the 1960s.
Since 1962, Dun & Bradstreet has been steadily expanding into new territories, acquiring other companies, and thereby broadening its reach around the globe.
Altares has been a partner of the Dun & Bradstreet group since 2004, with the merger of Dun & Bradstreet France and BIL (Bureau d’Informations Légales). A few years later, the company took on its current name.
Altares D&B acquires Visiblee
Altares-D&B announces the acquisition of the start-up Visiblee, which has developed an innovative multi-channel B2B lead generation solution. Integrated into the user's website, it identifies anonymous visitors in real time, implements the right lead nurturing strategy and analyzes their behavior to generate qualified leads.
Dun & Bradstreet acquires Bisnode
After more than 20 years as a member of the D&B Worldwide network, Bisnode becomes a Dun & Bradstreet Group company for $812 million.
Compliance: Altares launches indueD
Altares-D&B launches its first platform dedicated to compliance: indueD, which has become a benchmark on the French and international markets. indueD enables clients subject to national or supranational regulations (SAPIN 2, MIFID, LCB-FT laws, etc.) to meet their compliance obligations.
Dun & Bradstreet launch D&B Credit
A global cloud solution that enables companies to manage risk, drive growth, and achieve global business integration. With unparalleled commercial credit scoring and analytics using the world's largest commercial database.
Dun & Bradstreet launches the new API D&B Direct+.
A brand new, quick and easy integration service providing instant access to Dun & Bradstreet's global data and analytics directly to business applications.
Dataxess CRM
A Salesforce, Microsoft Dynamics or SAP connector to match, enrich and maintain customer data in your CRM.
Launch of Altares Benelux
Altares acquires the Dun & Bradstreet branches in Belgium and the Netherlands. The Benelux offices have used the name "Altares Dun & Bradstreet" since 2016.
A new visual logo and identity for Dun & Bradstreet.
Dun & Bradstreet Netherlands
Dun & Bradstreet Netherlands sets up in the Montevideo office in Rotterdam.
Altares acquires Manageo
As a specialist in online B2B data, Manageo helps companies optimise their revenue growth by managing their online data and marketing campaign strategy (SEO, content marketing, programmatic marketing, emailing, etc.)
Altares is created in 2006 through the merger of BIL (Base d'Infos Légales) and D&B France.
Since then, the company has continued to grow while maintaining a strong link with Dun & Bradstreet. Altares is part of the D&B Worldwide Network. It is often praised for its data innovations and applications in various sectors.
Dun & Bradstreet launches DNBi in the United States
DNBi is a web-based platform that improves the efficiency of credit risk management. Powerful yet flexible, DNBi can be easily adapted to the way customers work. Users have instant access to the information they need.
Dun & Bradstreet launches DUNSright
Dun & Bradstreet launches a new visual identity and logo
Dun & Bradstreet acquires iMarket Inc.
The acquisition, known for its CD-ROM marketing data products, strengthens Dun & Bradstreet's ability to provide marketing solutions to small and medium-sized businesses. In addition, iMarket's data sources enhance Dun & Bradstreet's own world-class database.
"iMarket's Internet and desktop solutions will help us seize opportunities by expanding our offerings to small and medium-sized customers," said Bradstreet. "Dun & Bradstreet also plans to use the zapdata.com (now D&B Hoovers!) tool to further migrate our business to the web," says Allan Loren, president and CEO of Dun & Bradstreet.
Dun & Bradstreet acquires A.C. Nielsen
Nielsen's unrivalled status as a leader in marketing research attracted the attention of Dun & Bradstreet Corporation. Arthur C. Nielsen Jr. eventually sold A.C. Nielsen for USD 1.3 billion.
In fact, the two companies had been considering such a merger for more than 15 years, as Nielsen and Harrington Drake, then CEO of Dun & Bradstreet, told the New York Times. "We both have the ability to collect a lot of data and deliver it efficiently to customers," Nielsen said. "I'm sure Nielsen will use both our technology and our databases," Drake added.
Dun & Bradstreet develops DUNSnet
the corporate telecommunications network.
Dun & Bradstreet produces the first computer-generated financial report.
Dun & Bradstreet launches its first digital database publication. Unique at the time!
Dun & Bradstreet introduces its universal data numbering system (D-U-N-S).
Competitor, Moody's, is also acquired.
Dun & Bradstreet moves to new premises at 99 Church Street in New York, next to St Peters Catholic Church.
In 1933 - the Merger of former rivals R.G. Dun & Co and John M. Bradstreet Company to form Dun & Bradstreet.
In the 1930s, the effects of competition and economic depression on both companies could no longer be ignored. In 1933, former rivals R.G. Dun & Co. and John M. Bradstreet Company merge to form Dun & Bradstreet.
The merger was led by Arthur Whiteside, CEO of R.G. Duns & Co. With his excellent diplomatic skills, Whiteside was able to strike a deal with the company's biggest competitor. Whereas previously both companies sold 'products', Whiteside focuses increasingly on service. With his great leadership, he brought D&B out of the depression and into the information age.
R.G. Dun & Company opens its first branch in Amsterdam
Later, other branches followed in Tilburg, Almelo, Haarlem, The Hague and Rotterdam.
John Moody launched a series of industry manuals and created Moody's Investor Service in 1914.
A photo of the R.G. Dun building in New York.
It was one of the first buildings with lifts and air conditioning.
The office of R.G. Dun & Company at 618 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, in 1870.
Robert Graham Dun invests $15,000 in a new corporate printing facility.
This allows R.G. Dun & Company to publish the Dun Reference Book every six months.
In 1859, Douglass sold the agency to his brother-in-law Robert Graham Dun.
Under its new name, R.G. Dun & Company, Dun continued to grow. Dun led the company for over forty years. Under his leadership, the company expanded throughout the United States and beyond national borders.
A major competitor - and a new player
In 1849, rival company John M. Bradstreet is founded in Cincinnati, Ohio. Two years later, the Bradstreet organisation launches the use of credit ratings with the publication of the first commercial ratings book. The rivalry between the John M. Bradstreet Company and Douglass' agency increased as the United States entered the 20th century. Fundamentally, this would have lasting consequences for the fate of both organisations.
To encourage expansion, Tappan turned the agency over to Benjamin Douglass in 1849.
Douglass took advantage of the improved transport and communications of his time to expand his network of offices, which enabled the Agency to reach new clients and gather more information.
Some of these correspondents went on to become presidents: Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant, Grover Cleveland and William McKinley.
Mercantile Agency
To assist American merchants in their decision-making, an enterprising businessman named Lewis Tappan (born 1788) established a network of correspondents in 1841 that would provide a source of reliable and objective information on credit risk. His Mercantile Agency, based in New York, was one of the first organisations to focus exclusively on providing commercial information to customers.
