ChoicePoint to sell three businesses in realignment

<p>ChoicePoint Inc., which collects, sells access to and analyzes consumers' personal information, said Monday it is selling three businesses that deal with direct marketing, forensic DNA and shareholder services as part of a companywide strategic review.</p><p>The Alpharetta, Ga.-based company said it will sell ChoicePoint Precision Marketing, with 671 employees and offices in Illinois, Texas, New Mexico, Florida, Massachusetts, Georgia and North Carolina; The Bode Technology Group, with 94 employees in Springfield, Va.; and EquiSearch, with 38 employees in White Plains, N.Y.</p><p>ChoicePoint said it will continue normal operations at the affected businesses until they are sold. Outside advisers have been retained to assist in the sale.</p><p>The company did not provide a deadline for completing these divestitures.</p><p>Also Monday, ChoicePoint said it will revise the segments in which it reports its financial results.</p><p>Based on these reporting changes and recent trends, ChoicePoint expects internal revenue growth from continuing operations for the second quarter to be modestly higher than the first quarter of 2006 and in the mid-single digit range.</p><p>The company releases its second quarter results on July 20.</p><p>ChoicePoint has made several changes to the way it does business since its massive database of consumer information was accessed by thieves in 2004.</p><p>In January, ChoicePoint agreed to pay $15 million to settle Federal Trade Commission charges related to allegations the company's security and record-handling procedures violated consumers' privacy rights during the breach.</p><p>Another investigation of its top two executives by the Securities and Exchange Commission related to stock sales continues.</p><p>The data breach involved thieves posing as small business customers who gained access to ChoicePoint's database, possibly compromising the personal information of 163,000 Americans, according to the FTC.</p><p>The company discovered the breach more than four months before disclosing it to the public in February 2005. ChoicePoint has said authorities initially asked it to keep the information secret.</p><p>ChoicePoint collects data on individuals, including Social Security numbers, real estate holdings and current and former addresses. It also offers businesses, government agencies and nonprofit organizations software technology and information designed to anticipate and respond to economic and physical risk, and it analyzes information for the insurance sector. Its database contains about 19 billion records.</p>

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