The two main polling organisations in the Netherlands are to join forces after multinational market research company Ipsos bought out I&O Research.

French-based Ipsos, which employs 20,000 people worldwide including 165 in Amsterdam, announced the merger in a press release on Tuesday.

“This acquisition is an important step that fits our strategy of strengthening our presence in the public sector,” said Ipsos CEO Ben Page.

The smaller I&O Research, founded in 1996, has around 100 staff at its offices in Amsterdam and Enschede.

Senior researcher Peter Kanne said it had not been decided if the separate opinion polls will continue. They have formed the basis of the poll of polls compiled by Leiden political scientist Tom Louwerse since Kantar Public stopped publishing regular polls in 2022.

The surveys published by Maurice de Hond on peil.nl have not been included since 2019 after De Hond threatened to take legal action against Louwerse.

“We will study this in the run-up to the European elections in June, although a combination of the polls is an obvious choice,” Kanne said.

“The two companies use slightly different methods, so we will compare them in order to learn from each other.”