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PLC agreed to sell itself to a group of private equity firms in a deal valuing the media measurement firm at around $10 billion, reviving the deal After talks broke down last week.
A consortium led by the private equity arm of Elliott Management Corp. and
Brookfield Asset Management company
It agreed to pay $28 per share to the company, or $16 billion including debt, Nielsen said Tuesday.
The Wall Street Journal reported earlier Tuesday that the two sides were close to such a deal.
Nielsen She was in advanced conversations With acquisitions companies going private in a deal that would value the company at $25.40 a share. But Nielsen rejected the deal on March 20.
WindAcre Partnership LLC, a Houston investment firm that owns roughly 10% of the company and an additional 14% through swaps, told the company it would buy a stake large enough to block the deal if completed.
People familiar with the matter said WindAcre was notified of the new deal ahead of time but did not say whether it supported it. WindAcre declined to comment Tuesday.
The price of the new deal represented nearly a 60% premium to Nielsen’s stock price before the Wall Street Journal reported that a deal was in the works earlier in March. Nielsen shares rose sharply after that and remained high after the talks broke down. Nielsen shares jumped 20% Tuesday, to close at $26.72.
The deal is fully funded and includes a 45-day “go-shop” period, which allows Nielsen to solicit bids from other bidders during that period.
Nielsen measures US TV ratings, which provide audience ratings that networks use to sell commercial time and reassure advertisers that they got what they paid for. Its hold has frayed as broadcast streaming has increased and traditional broadcast and cable television have lost viewers. While the New York-based company has introduced streaming metrics in recent years, it is one of many players in the field.
Elliott has held a stake in Nielsen since 2018, when the company called to explore sale. The following year, Nielsen said he would Separating from a part of her business To create two separate public companies: Global Connect, a market analysis process that measures retail and consumer behavior, and the core media business.
Global Connect was sold last year to private equity firm Advent International Corp. for nearly $3 billion and is now known as NielsenIQ.
based in Toronto
It has a presence in more than 30 countries and approximately $690 billion in assets under management across alternative investment strategies such as acquisitions, real estate, infrastructure and private credit.
Elliott, which manages about $52 billion, is best known for its active investments, but has recently been active in private equity. It is conducting the deal through its private equity arm, Evergreen Coast Capital Corp.
In January, Evergreen Coast Agree with the partner To buy a cloud computing company
Citrix Systems company
In the third largest deal announced so far this year, according to Dealogic.
The Nielsen deal is among the largest announced this year so far. The slowdown in merger volumes due to market volatility has reduced the number of large deals being signed.
write to Cara Lombardo at [email protected]
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It appeared in print on March 30, 2022 as “Nielsen accepts $10 billion takeover offer.”
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