The company was responding to a statement on 22 December by Vin Gupta, the founder and former CEO of InfoGroup who resigned in August following an investigation into his use of company expenses, suggesting InfoGroup should consider a sale and that he was a possible buyer.
Gupta, who owns about 40% of InfoGroup's shares, also said he was willing to sell his family's shares "in connection with a sale of the entire company".
But Bernard Reznicek, chairman of InfoGroup's board of directors, said the company would not consider a potential sale at present. The board "has a great deal of confidence" in the company's current management team, Reznicek said.
"We understand Mr. Gupta's concerns, and we share his desire to enhance shareholder value for all the company's shareholders," Reznicek said. "In the regular course of discussions of our board of directors, we frequently focus on various opportunities which may present themselves for us to further shareholder interests."
Gupta stepped down as CEO last year as part of a settlement agreement relating to the shareholder lawsuit, according to a report filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Gupta was ordered to pay $9 million to the company, after the special committee found that "various related party transactions, expense reimbursements, and corporate expenditures were excessive," according to a report it issued.
Gupta said he was "exploring working with an equity partner to make a cash proposal for the company to the Board of Directors and have retained The Blackstone Group as my financial advisor and Latham & Watkins as legal counsel. However...I would also be willing to sell my shares for liquid stock or cash if that proves to be the best transaction for all the stockholders of the company".
Reznicek said that "the present economic environment in general and capital markets in particular suggests that this would be a challenging time to try to maximize shareholder value by selling the company". He added that if Gupta does intend to sell shares of the company, the board would cooperate with those efforts.
InfoGroup is enjoying "strong, positive relationships" with its customers and has been successful in developing new customer relationships, said Bill Fairfield, InfoGroup's CEO, in a statement. He added that he was "proud of the efforts of... employees who have worked diligently through the difficult transition of earlier this year."
Last year InfoGroup set up B2B data services company InfoUK, led by former Experian B2B director Richard Lloyd.
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