Assoc. Press 11/14/96: A British retailer and credit checker said Thursday it was buying Experian Corp., a former subsidiary of TRW and one of the biggest credit-rating business in the United States, for $1.7 billion. The deal is part of an effort by Great Universal Stores PLC, which owns the Burberry retail chain and is Britain's largest catalog retailer, to position itself as a global supplier of credit and marketing information. [I wonder what recourse I have if GUS gets my credit data wrong? Or decides to share it with MI6? -bd] Great Universal, known more commonly as GUS, said it would pay $900 million in cash and borrow the rest of the price for Orange, Calif.-based Experian, which TRW sold in September. GUS plans to merge Experian into its credit information business, CCN. Experian chairman D. Van Skilling said the two companies have many customers in common and will be able to provide them easier access to credit information around the world. [...] Experian is one of the largest providers of credit reports on consumers with information on 93 percent of U.S. households and 12 million businesses. Experian says its database may be the broadest and most current in the country. The company also helps businesses identify potential customers. Great Universal entered the credit information business in 1980 and now has customers throughout Europe and has operations in Asia, South Africa, and the United States. TRW completed the sale of Experian for $1.01 billion less than two months ago. An investor group led by Bain Capital Inc. and Thomas H. Lee Co., both of Boston, bought the company. TRW kept a 16 percent stake in Experian. [I wonder who the "investor group" is comprised of? I wonder why TRW would sell something for $1B that is apparently valued at $1.7B? Reminds me of the local paper which was sold for $X to an investor group that included Sen. Howard Baker and (Pres. candidate) Lamar Alexander. The investor group then resold the paper for $2X or $3X. What business accumen! -bd]