The Steadman Group, the company that popularised the business of opinion polls in Kenya, has sold its market research and opinion polling business to a multinational market research company-Synovate, for an undisclosed fee.

A statement from Steadman Group board of directors said that Synovate had acquired 100 per cent interest in the company. The two companies yesterday said there would be no change in the management of Steadman business, but that a re-branding of the company would happen in the near future.

Synovate - a division of UK-based advertising conglomerate Aegis Group - is quoted at the London Stock Exchange. It is one of the world's leading market research organisations, with operations in more 60 countries.

It provides a wide range of services, from brand tracking and pricing research to sales forecasting as well as custom research services. Synovate offers expertise to corporate customers in a number of industries, including automotive, financial services, healthcare, and retail. Aegis formed this market research division in 1999 and branded the unit as Synovate in 2003.

In its announcement to the London Stock Exchange on Tuesday, Aegis Group said Steadman Group had a gross asset base worth $3.3 million.

The move is yet another confirmation of Nairobi's continued rise as a service hub for multinationals intending to enter the East and Central African markets. Steadman Group is the largest independent African research agency.

Founded in 1984, the business is headquartered in Nairobi, with additional offices in Uganda, Tanzania, Zambia, Ghana, Mozambique and South Africa. It provides custom market research and media monitoring for leading local and regional African businesses as well as a number of international clients. From these offices Steadman carries out projects in over 37 countries in Africa.

The group, which employs 420 full time research specialists who are supported by over 3,000 field interviewers, is well known for political opinion polling. In the run up to the last General Election, Steadman published weekly opinion polls on presidential candidates that contested the vote.

"We will encourage opinion polling, we have no reason to discontinue it," said Jon Salters, the managing director Synovate, Sub-saharan Africa.

Synovate provides global support and a suite of research activities to clients, ranging from Fortune Global 500 companies to entrepreneurial start-ups. It employs more than 5,000 permanent staff worldwide.

"The business will continue under the same management as before but the other companies within the Steadman Group will now be wholly-owned subsidiaries of Synovate. There will be no changes in either the size and profile of employees nor the contractual relationships entered into by the Steadman Group," Steadman said.

Roger Steadman will continue to head Steadman, and George Waititu will continue with the role of managing director, driving the Pan-African business.

"There will be no disruptive restructuring, no redundancies and no change of management" said Mr Salters. The addition of Steadman will make Synovate the largest single market research group in Africa.