Nielsen Rejects Private Equity Group’s Bid to Acquire Measurement Company
variety.comBrian Steinberg Senior TV EditorNielsen Holdings PLC has turned down a bid by a private-equity consortium to buy the media-measurement giant, noting that the company feels the proposal “does not adequately compensate shareholders for Nielsen’s growth prospects.”Shares in the company, which has been under scrutiny for months as TV networks that represent some of its biggest clients have sought new measurement work from rivals, soared more than 40% on Monday on a report that a group that included Nielsen investor Elliott Management Corp.
sought to buy the company for what could be around $15 billion, including debt.Nielsen said its choice was bolstered by conversations with one of its largest shareholders, The WindAcre Partnership, an investor since 2013.
WindAcre declined to join the private-equity consortium and said it would move to block an acquisition if Nielsen chose to accept the bid.
WindAcre, which has also been a significant investor in Amazon and Google, “views Nielsen’s intrinsic value to be significantly higher than values proposed by the consortium,” Nielsen said in a statement.
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