Consumer Research firm JD Power & Associates, best known for its automotive quality surveys, said on Monday that it would be sold to information media giant McGraw-Hill Cos, which owns corporate credit rating service Standard & Poor’s and Business Week magazine. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Power, based in Westlake Village, California, has been on the block for about six months and its market value has been estimated by analysts at as much as $400 million. The sale is expected to close in April. Privately held Power’s most celebrated products are its customer satisfaction surveys on auto manufacturers, their vehicles and dealers. The results are widely cited in automakers’ advertising campaigns. Although its automotive studies made its name, Power also does research for the construction, energy, financial services, airline and health services industries. The acquisition is part of McGraw-Hill’s strategy to diversify into businesses that aren’t as dependent on advertising. Power is a profitable company that operates under long-term contracts with most of its clients.‘‘It will enhance our growth prospects for our business information platforms,’’ said Harold McGraw III, chairman, chief executive and president of McGraw-Hill. Publicly traded McGraw-Hill reported $53 billion in revenue and $788.3 million in net income last year. It publishes magazines and trade journals in many of the same fields in which Power works. LAT-WP
