The media measuring business Nielsen is being bought for $16 billion, including debt, just a week after rejecting a lower offer earlier this month.
Nielsen’s viewing data is crucial in determining where billions of dollars in advertising are spent each year. The corporation generates roughly $3.5 billion in global revenue each year.
A group of private equity investors, led by Evergreen Coast Capital Corp., a subsidiary of Elliott Investment Management L.P., and Brookfield Business Partners L.P., will spend $28 per outstanding Nielsen share, with institutional partners. Brookfield Business Partners will invest $2.65 billion in preferred stock, which will convert to 45 percent of Nielsen’s common stock. The equity portion of the transaction is valued little over $10 billion in cash, with Nielsen holding the rest of the debt.
Brookfield said on Tuesday that it expects to invest about $600 million, with the rest coming from institutional investors.
Nielsen has been chastised for failing to develop new ways to measure how much time individuals spend viewing streaming services like Netflix or Hulu. People now load content into phones, tablets, and other smart devices, making it a far more difficult operation.
Nielsen is working to address these concerns, and a new cross-media measuring tool is planned to be released by the end of the year. According to the business, Nielsen One can provide more comparable and comprehensive information across a variety of platforms, including traditional televisions and a variety of other digital and streaming services.
Nielsen’s board of directors has unanimously approved the new offer, and the business will be taken private if the deal is completed. There is a 45-day go-shop period during which Nielsen can consider and accept alternative bids, but there is a $102 million termination charge if Nielsen breaks the deal with the private equity firm.
The transaction should be completed in the second half of this year. Nielsen shareholders and authorities must yet approve it.
Nielsen Holdings Inc. is an information, data, and market measurement company based in the United States. Nielsen employs around 44,000 employees worldwide and works in over 100 countries.
The company is currently a component of the S&P 500 and is traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).
Nielsen completed its initial public offering of common stock in January 2011 and began trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker “NLSN.” Nielsen Holdings plc merged with Nielsen N.V., a Dutch public corporation listed on the New York Stock Exchange, on August 31, 2015, in a cross-border merger under the European Cross-Border Merger Directive, with Nielsen Holdings plc surviving.
