Nielsen could be having a new majority owner as The Wall Street Journal reports that Elliott Management Corp., which since 2018 has owned a stake in Nielsen, is in progressive talks to buy the measurement giant.
The price tag that Elliott Management is willing to spend is in the range of $15 billion, including over $5 billion of debt.
While there is no guarantee of a deal and no information about possible price per share, those close to the situation state financing talks with several banks are advancing, and the investment management firm could complete a takeover deal within weeks.
“As a matter of company policy, Nielsen does not comment on market rumors or speculation,” a statement from Nielsen regarding the pending sale said.
Nielsen’s market worth stood at $6.2 billion, with its business value of more than $11 billion, given its $5 billion deficit load. The sale, if finalized, would be the latest purchase by Elliott Management.
In January, they made the $16.5 billion acquisition of cloud-computing company Citrix Systems Inc. by its private-equity arm, Evergreen Coast Capital Corp.
Eduardo Razo is the Assistant Content Editor for BNM, which includes writing daily news stories on the news media industry. He can be found on Twitter @eddierazo_ or you can reach him by email at eddie1991razo@gmail.com.
