The new value proposition for Forrester with SiriusDecisions in its fold will be “We work with business and technology leaders to develop customer-obsessed strategies and operations that drive growth.” (New part italicized by me for emphasis.). Forrester says the acquisition will double its addressable market – from about $20 billion to about $40 billion. Forrester expects the addition of SiriusDecisions will contribute about $100 million to Forrester revenue in 2019, or about 10-20 cents per share. So what are the implications moving forward? And, whether intended or not, it shows a new level of mojo that Forrester naysayers of recent history will have a hard time ignoring. In short, this purchase will give Forrester new critical mass. And Forrester can bring the gospel of the Age of the Customer to SiriusDecisions clients in ways they’ve never experienced. With access to data and insights from SiriusDecisions clients, Forrester can elevate its already solid offerings to clients in B2B sales, marketing, and product development. Forrester’s north star of customer obsession plays an important role here, too. During the investor conference call about the acquisition, Colony commented that the two parties considered this in 2009, 2012, and 2013. The truth is Forrester’s interest in SiriusDecisions has been high for quite some time – it turns out that the fourth time was the charm. One can’t help but wonder if Forrester went after SiriusDecisions at least in part in reaction to Gartner’s acquisition of CEB. 
But each firm has well-established strengths that were different and yet will be complementary when brought together. That’s not to suggest that Forrester lacks practical chops or SiriusDecisions doesn’t help clients think about the big picture.
No doubt this is a move by Forrester to combine its strengths in strategic, challenging thinking with SiriusDecisions’ strengths in tactical, operational excellence. The most salient points of the acquisition, though, relate to why Forrester will make this purchase. Of the roughly 3,500 Forrester subscribers and 1,400 SiriusDecisions subscribers, there are 278 companies that overlap the two firms. At some point in 2019 the two founders of SiriusDecisions (John Neeson and Richard Eldh, both of whom are former Gartner executives) will move to emeritus consulting status. For practical reasons, come late 2019 there will be consolidation of offices in locations where both companies have physical presences. 
Forrester will retain all 340 SiriusDecisions employees. SiriusDecisions will effectively become a new product line for Forrester, not a business unit to absorb into the Forrester status quo. Forrester CMO Victor Milligan told Marketing Land that Forrester will retain branding for SiriusDecisions and its “Sirius Way” methodology. 
During the conference call about the acquisition, Forrester CFO Michael Doyle described the 2.8x factor as a fair rate, noting that there’s a range of 1.1x to 4.8x for industry analyst firms, with Forrester trading at a rate of about 2.4x as of earlier this week.$70 million of the price will come from Forrester’s piggybank $170 million will come from financing. The price tag of $245 million is about 2.8 times the past 12 months of SiriusDecisions’ revenue.
It’s the largest acquisition in Forrester history. The deal is expected to close in January 2019. Forrester will buy SiriusDecisions for about $245 million.Source: “Forrester and SiriusDecisions Investor Deck” used during the Forrester conference call with financial analysts and investorsįorrester founder and CEO George Colony summarized the big-picture benefits of the acquisition by saying “Our clients will now know what to do and how to do it.” Let’s recap the basics of the forthcoming acquisition:
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