Kroger ends joint venture with Tesco’s Dunnhumby, starts customer data subsidiary

Cincinnati -- Kroger said Monday that it has ended a 12-year joint venture with British consumer data company Dunnhumby and launched its own customer data subsidiary.



The new subsidiary will help Kroger set prices in stores and decide which shoppers get certain coupons. The ending of the joint venture comes after Dunnhumby's parent company, Tesco PLC, said it was seeking strategic options for Dunnhumby.



The new subsidiary, called 84.51, will be based in a new building in downtown Cincinnati. About 500 employees of the U.S. joint venture will work for 84.51. The remaining employees, about 200, will stay with Dunnhumby. The companies said they do not expect to lay off any employees.



84.51 uses information gathered from Kroger's loyalty cards to send coupons to frequent shoppers and help it decide which products to sell in stores. It will also provide data to companies that sell products at Kroger's stores. By ending the joint venture, Kroger will be allowed to work with other customer data companies and Dunnhumby will be able to grow its North America business by working with Kroger's competitors. The two companies will continue to work together.