Nielsen Company
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| The Nielsen Company | |
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| Type | Private (as the result of a leveraged buyout) |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1964 |
| Headquarters | Haarlem, the Netherlands: New York, New York |
| Key people | Dave Calhoun (Chairman and CEO) |
| Industry | Media |
| Products | Publishing Advertising Marketing research Media |
| Revenue | EUR 3.5 billion (2005) |
| Employees | 42,000 (2005) |
| Website | www.nielsen.com |
The Nielsen Company is a global information and media company. It was formed in 1964 through the merger of two Dutch publishing companies De Spaarnestad and Cebema. Its original name was Verenigde Nederlandse Uitgeversbedrijven, which translates into English as "United Dutch Publishing Companies", but this was shortened to VNU Group b.v. (or just VNU) in 1999. On January 18th 2007, VNU rebranded as The Nielsen Company, adopting the name of several of its units.
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[edit] Overview
The Nielsen Company has corporate headquarters in Haarlem, the Netherlands and New York City, USA. Nielsen is active in over 100 countries, and employs some 42,000 people worldwide. Total revenues amounted to EUR 3.5 billion in 2005.
[edit] Mergers and Acquisitions: 2005 - 2006
On 17 November 2005, it called off a merger with U.S. health care data provider IMS Health after a shareholder rebellion to the proposed merger. VNU said the two companies decided to call off their merger after shareholders claiming to represent nearly 50% of VNU’s outstanding shares said they would not support the transaction under any circumstances. The merger, announced 11 July 2005, would have required approval from a majority of shareholders to be completed.
CEO Rob van den Bergh resigned as a result of the termination of the merger. He had been one of the chief architects of the transformation of VNU from a Dutch advertising-driven publishing house to a global information and media company.
On March 8, 2006, two major shareholders led by Knight-Vinke rejected a friendly buyout from a consortium of private equity firms including Blackstone Group and Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co.[1] only to accept a raised bid of 7.6B euros on May 22, 2006 or 8.7B euros with debt. The deal was notable for having required one of the biggest equity payments in history for a private equity deal with reports of ~3B euros in equity required. The Nielsen Company is now owned by Valcon Acquisitions.[1]
Dave Calhoun has been announced the new Chairman and CEO of The Nielsen Company effective August 23, 2006. Calhoun comes from General Electric where he was Vice Chairman.
The Nielsen Company sold its Business Publication Europe division to private equity firm 3i on December 18, 2006, but at the time said it was still negotiating about the sale of its activities in France.
[edit] Corporate holdings
The Nielsen Company is the owner of numerous well-known companies and publications, including:
- ACNielsen, marketing research firm
- AGB Nielsen Media Research, television audience measurement firm, a joint venture with AGB Group
- Adweek weekly advertising industry publication
- BASES, a Simulated Test Marketing (STM) firm
- Billboard, weekly music industry publication
- Brandweek weekly marketing industry publication
- Burrill Life Sciences Media Group, media and conference company directed towards life sciences
- Claritas, provider of intelligent marketing information and target marketing services
- Clio Awards, Advertising and Design festival and award show
- Computing and IT Week, weekly newspapers for the UK computer industry
- Editor & Publisher, monthly newspaper industry trade journal
- The Hollywood Reporter, entertainment industry trade magazine
- Homescan/Spectra, provides consumer-centric marketing and sales solutions for the fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) industry
- IMS, media planning and analysis software for industry and proprietary research
- Kirkus Reviews, weekly book review trade journal
- Mediaweek weekly media (Television, radio, print and outdoor advertising) industry publication
- Nielsen BookScan, offers Point-of-Sale (POS) data for the book industry
- Nielsen BDS, A system that monitors radio airplay based on music spins and audience impressions.
- Nielsen BuzzMetrics, measures consumer-generated Media (CGM) and word-of-mouth (WOM)
- NielsenConnect, integrates information and services from VNU companies, e.g. Nielsen In-store measurement
- Nielsen EDI, measurement, information and research solutions for the motion picture industry (e.g. box office results)
- Nielsen Media Research, producer of the Nielsen Ratings
- Nielsen//NetRatings, Internet audience measurement firm
- Nielsen SoundScan, which tracks music sales and downloads
- Nielsen RingScan, a service of Nielsen Mobile which tracks ringtone sales
- Nielsen VideoScan, provides VHS and DVD sell-through Point-of-Sale (POS) data
- PERQ/HCI, tracking Healthcare journal performance and crucial competitive intelligence
- Personal Computer World, the UK's oldest computing magazine
- R&R, spinoff of Billboard, focusing on monitored radio airplay and the radio industry in general. The magazine is a merged combination of two former rivals: Radio & Records and Billboard Radio Monitor.
- Scarborough, research firm for consumer insights and media habits, a joint venture with Arbitron
- SRDS, leading provider of media rates and information services
- Tweakers.net, a large Dutch tech news website
- The Bookseller, a weekly book industry publication
- The Inquirer, Bleeding edge tech news site, often disputed due to sensitive information being disclosed.
- VNU Advisory Services, consists of BASES, Spectra, Claritas and HCI
- VNU Expositions, business-to-business tradeshows and educational conferences
- vnunet.com, Tech news, reviews and downloads website
[edit] Notes
- ^ Crum, Rachelle (7 August 2006) "Special Focus: Mergers And Acquisitions: Deal-making at fever pitch: first Half 2006" Tradeshow Week 36(32): p.6-7;
