• by Tyler Loechner  @mp_tyler, December 12, 2013

At the Email Insider Summit this morning, email data service provider TowerData announced it has acquired Rapleaf, a real-time data provider for email marketing.

Rapleaf, a Chicago-based company, boasts an 80% email match rate in the U.S., which is what initially drew TowerData to the company. That means Rapleaf provides data on 80% of U.S. email addresses, which the companies claim is among the highest in the industry.

The move will not impact the services either company provides for current customers immediately, but "added value" can be anticipated in the coming months, the companies said. Rapleaf customers will gain additional API services, and TowerData customers will gain new demographic and lifestyle data to work with.

All Rapleaf and TowerData staff and offices will be retained, the companies said. Within a year, the TowerData brand will fully absorb Rapleaf, and the combined company will look to hire.