Great Universal Stores Plc is looking for a buyer for its 1,000-employee CCN Systems Ltd consumer credit information service, according to the Mail on Sunday. The paper said that CCN employees tried to put together a buy-out but were turned down by the board because the price was too low – GUS is said to be looking for between UKP60m and UKP100m – although the Companies House filings show turnover for the year to March 1990 of only UKP44m; pre-tax profit on that was however recorded as a very healthy UKP9m plus, and competitors suggest these figures may be understated because of intra-company trading. As well as a consumer database of 2.5m personal profiles and 30m items of financial information, the company has a credit rating database on companies. TRW Inc, one of the two biggest US players in the consumer credit-checking business is among those said to be interested, as is AT&T Co.
