The consumer research firm Nielsen is up for sale and could fetch up to $10 billion. The Blackstone Group of billionaire Stephen Scwharzman is reportedly one of the leading suitors for the 95-year-old TV ratings company.
Josh Kosman reports on the efforts to sell Nielsen in this article from MarketWatch:
Nielsen’s banker JPMorgan JPM, -0.65% has set a Friday deadline for first-round bids in the new auction process, sources said. Other prospective bidders include Bain Capital BCSF, +0.35%, TPG Capital and KKR KKR, -0.47%, according to sources.
If successful, Blackstone and Hellman & Friedman would own Nielsen for the second time. Previously, the two buyout shops had partnered with Carlyle Group CG, -0.80% in 2006 to buy Nielsen, formerly called VNU, for $11 billion.
Blackstone Senior Managing Director David Calhoun was CEO of Nielsen from 2006 through 2013. The buyout firms took it public in 2011 at $23 a share. Since then, Nielsen shares have stalled. Its TV-ratings business, which it calls “watch,” is solid. But its “buy” business that sells data to consumer-goods makers and retailers has been hit by painful changes in the industry, including the rising dominance of Amazon.
Last August, billionaire Paul Singer’s hedge fund, Elliott Management, revealed an 8 percent stake in Nielsen, prodding it to sell the troubled “buy” segment of its business or sell the company altogether. Nielsen announced it was considering alternatives a few weeks later in September. Nevertheless, the auction never took off as Nielsen shuffled its executive ranks and signalled new turnaround initiatives.
Nielsen shares on Wednesday rose 2.7% to close at $25.49, giving the company a market capitalization of $9.05 billion.
