The move is seen as beefing up its Experian consumer credit division, which offers online services such as credit checking and mortgage comparison to consumers.

The division will now account for more than 20 per cent of Experian, whose core operation is to offer marketing and information services to businesses.

Don Roberts, Experian's chief executive, said: "We want consumers to think of Experian when they have something important to do in their lives."

PriceGrabber has 30 major private owners who include friends and family of the website's founders. The company's management team will stay on with Experian.

The site allows shoppers to compare prices on hundreds of thousands of items from more than 9,000 retailers. Best known in the US, it recently expanded into the UK. It claims to be able to offer a 20 per cent average saving by shopping around.

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