Dun & Bradstreet

Dun & Bradstreet (D&B) is an American company that provides commercial data, analytics, and insights for businesses, serving risk and finance, operations and supply, and sales and marketing functions. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, its database contains over 500 million business records worldwide, keyed by the company's proprietary D-U-N-S Number identifier.^[1][2][3].

Tracing its origins to The Mercantile Agency, founded in New York City on July 20, 1841 by Lewis Tappan, the modern firm was formed in March 1933 through the merger of R. G. Dun & Company with John M. Bradstreet's competitor. It is owned by private equity firm Clearlake Capital following a 2025 acquisition.^[2]

What It Does

Dun & Bradstreet aggregates firmographic, financial, and corporate-family data on businesses globally and sells credit and risk assessments, sales and marketing data, master data management, and third-party risk and compliance solutions built on that dataset.^[2] Revenue is generated through subscription-based products, business information reports, data licensing agreements, strategic partnerships, and concierge services, according to Wikipedia.^[2]

Data And Methodology

The company's central identifier is the Data Universal Numbering System (D-U-N-S Number), devised by the company in 1963 and widely used to establish unique business identities across corporate hierarchies.^[2] Its commercial database holds more than 500 million business records worldwide.^[2]

Products

Named products cited by Wikipedia include D&B Hoovers, a company research tool inherited from the 2003 acquisition of Hoover's; Master Data offerings; and D&B Data Exchange. Product categories span credit and risk, sales and marketing, data analytics, and supply and compliance solutions.^[2]

Buyers And Use Cases

D&B serves customers in government and industries including communications, technology, financial services, retail, telecommunications, and manufacturing, per Yahoo Finance profile material cited on Wikipedia.^[2] Its identifiers and credit files are broadly embedded in procurement, KYB/KYC, and B2B marketing workflows.

History

The Mercantile Agency was formed on July 20, 1841 by abolitionist Lewis Tappan to provide centralized, reliable credit information via a network of correspondents; by 1844 it had over 280 clients. Robert Graham Dun took over in 1859, renaming the firm R. G. Dun & Company. In March 1933 it merged with John M. Bradstreet's company to form Dun & Bradstreet. The D-U-N-S Number was introduced in 1963, the same era in which the firm acquired Moody's (1962, later spun off in 2000). Hoover's was acquired in 2003, NetProspex in 2015, Avention (OneSource) in 2017, and the European data firm Bisnode in January 2021 for approximately US$818 million.^[2]

An investor group led by CC Capital, Cannae Holdings, and Thomas H. Lee Partners took the company private in February 2019; it re-listed on the New York Stock Exchange under ticker DNB on July 1, 2020. In March 2025 the company agreed to be acquired by Clearlake Capital in a transaction valued at $7.7 billion including debt; the deal closed in August 2025 and Stephen Tulenko became CEO that September. The global headquarters moved from Short Hills, New Jersey to Jacksonville, Florida, announced in May 2021.^[2]

Landscape

D&B operates as one of the largest established commercial credit and firmographic data providers, alongside newer alternative-data firms; within its category it competes with business information bureaus and credit agencies globally.^[2]