Nielsen - M&A Summary, Ownership, and Business Overview

Information ServicesCompany

Nielsen M&A Summary

Nielsen has acquired 33 companies of its own, including 2 in the last 5 years. A total of 8 acquisitions came from private equity firms. It has also divested 10 assets.

Nielsen’s largest acquisition to date was in 2013, when it acquired Arbitron for $1.3B. It’s largest disclosed sale occurred in 2020, when it sold Nielsen Consumer to Advent International for $2.7B. Nielsen has acquired in 7 different US states, and 8 countries. The Company’s most targeted sectors include internet software and services (30%) and media (26%).

Nielsen Ownership

Who owns Nielsen?

Nielsen is owned by Brookfield Business Partners, Elliott and Evergreen Coast Capital. It was acquired on March 29, 2022.

Is Nielsen PE-backed?

Yes. Nielsen is owned by private equity investors Brookfield Business Partners, Elliott and Evergreen Coast Capital.

Was Nielsen formerly PE-backed?

Yes. Nielsen was formerly owned by 9 private investors.

Nielsen Business Overview

Where is Nielsen headquartered?

Nielsen is headquartered in New York, New York.

What is Nielsen’s revenue?

Nielsen disclosed revenue of 3,500M USD for 2021 and 6,290M USD for 2020.

How many employees does Nielsen have?

Nielsen has 14,000 employees.

What sector is Nielsen in?

Nielsen is an information services company.

When was Nielsen founded?

Nielsen was founded in 1923.

M&A Summary

  • M&A Total Activity41
    • M&A Buy Activity31
    • M&A Sell Activity10
  • Total Sectors Invested 7
  • Total Countries Invested 8
  • M&A Buy/Sell Connections 20
  • M&A Advisors 7

Nielsen

Nielsen Co., (US) LLC

675 Avenue of the Americas,
New York, New York 10004
United States,
(646) 654-5000
www.nielsen.com

Nielsen is a global information and measurement company that provides clients with a comprehensive understanding of consumers and consumer behaviour. Nielsen delivers critical media and marketing information, analytics, and industry expertise about what consumers buy and what consumers watch (consumer interaction with television, online and mobile) on a global and local basis. Nielsen was founded in 1923 and is based in New York City.


M&A Summary

Buy vs Sell

Year ≤ '19 '20 '21 '22 '23 '24 T
Buy (0.4/yr) # 29 1 1 - - - 31
vol $2.3B $2.3B
Sell (0.6/yr) # 7 2 1 - - - 10
vol $950M $2.7B $3.7B
  41

Most Recent M&A

Company Date Value Type
TVTY SA 2021-07-08 - Add-on Acquisition
Paris, France · www.tvty.tv
Nielsen - Advanced Video Advertising Business 2021-03-01 - Divestiture
New York, New York
Nielsen Consumer LLC 2020-11-01 2.7B USD Divestiture
Chicago, Illinois · www.nielseniq.com
Nielsen Social 2020-07-23 - Divestiture
New York, New York · www.nielsensocial.com
Precima, Inc. 2020-01-10 - Divestiture
Toronto, Ontario · www.precima.com
Ebiquity Plc - AdIntel Unit 2018-02-13 40M GBP Divestiture
London, United Kingdom
BASES Pharmaceutical Forecasting 2018-01-02 - Divestiture
, Netherlands
SuperData Research, Inc. 2017-12-05 - Add-on Acquisition
New York, New York · www.superdataresearch.com
Visual IQ, Inc. 2017-09-27 - Add-on Acquisition
Needham, Massachusetts · www.visualiq.com
vBrand Ltd. 2017-08-03 - Add-on Acquisition
Tel Aviv, Israel · www.vbrandsports.com
View All >>

M&A by Sector

Sector Buy # Value Sell # Value
Internet Software and Services 9 (29%) 200M (9%) 2 (20%) -
Media 8 (26%) 1.5B (66%) - -
Software 5 (16%) - - -
Information Technology 4 (13%) 560M (24%) 1 (10%) 2.7B (74%)
Business Services 2 (6%) - 2 (20%) 950M (26%)
Information Services - - 4 (40%) -
Digital Media 2 (6%) 40M (2%) - -
Marketing 1 (3%) - - -
Technology Hardware - - 1 (10%) -
Total 31 $2.3B 10 $3.7B

By Geo

State/Country Buy Value Sell Value
United States 22 2.3B 7 3.7B
  California 8 560M 2 950M
  New York 6 425M 4 -
  Massachusetts 3 - - -
  Illinois 2 - 1 2.7B
  Connecticut 1 - - -
  Washington 1 - - -
  Maryland 1 1.3B - -
Canada 1 - 1 -
  Ontario 1 - - -
  Quebec - - 1 -
India 2 - - -
Netherlands 1 - 1 -
United Kingdom 2 40M - -
Denmark - - 1 -
France 1 - - -
Israel 1 - - -
South Korea 1 - - -
Domestic 22 (71%) 2.3B (98%) 7 (70%) 3.7B (100%)
Cross-border 9 (29%) 40M (2%) 3 (30%) -
Total 31 $2.3B 10 $3.7B

Top M&A Advisors

Financial Deals
J.P. Morgan Securities
 1
Guggenheim Securities
 1
PJT Partners, Inc.
 1
Legal Deals
Baker & McKenzie
 2
Clifford Chance
 1
Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz
 1

Deal Values

buy # Total
> $1B 1 $1.3B
$100M to $1B 3 $985M
< $100M 1 $40M
TOTAL $2.3B
Largest Arbitron, Inc.
$1.3B (2013-09-30)
sell # Total
> $1B 1 $2.7B
$100M to $1B 1 $950M
TOTAL $3.7B
Largest Nielsen Consumer LLC
$2.7B (2020-11-01)

M&A Connections

Deals
Acquired from
Investor(s)
19%
6 (19%)
Strategic(s)
10%
3 (10%)
Divested to
Investor(s)
40%
4 (40%)
Strategic(s)
50%
5 (50%)

Company Summary

SECTOR

Information Services

Revenue

3,500   45% 2021
6,290   4% 2020
6,498   1% 2019
6,515   1% 2018
6,572   5% 2017
6,309   3% 2016
6,172   2% 2015
6,288   11% 2014
5,703   6% 2013
5,407   2012
(millions of USD) Show More Show Less

Employees

14,000

Established

1923

Former Name

VNU Group BV, Nielsen Holdings plc

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