Elliott and Brookfield near $15bn deal to buy TV ratings group Nielsen

Tv rankings group Nielsen is nearing a $15bn deal to be acquired by a consortium of personal fairness consumers led by Elliott Administration and Brookfield Asset Administration in what could be the biggest firm takeover since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Elliott and Brookfield are finalising a financing package deal with a number of giant banks, mentioned individuals briefed concerning the matter, including {that a} deal may very well be introduced inside per week. The transaction may nonetheless crumble because the talks are ongoing.

A deal could be a significant take a look at of takeover financing after world fairness markets have bought off sharply in 2022 on fears of rising rates of interest and the outbreak of conflict in Europe. Elliott and Brookfield declined to remark.

It might additionally sign that personal fairness consumers stay assured Nielsen’s core enterprise of measuring promoting attain on cable and broadcast networks has a future regardless of being threatened by the rise of streaming platforms resembling Netflix, Amazon and Hulu. For years, Nielsen has struggled to retain its dominance as an middleman for consumers of promoting.

Some business observers say there is a chance out there for corporations that might supply extra refined viewers information about streaming providers. Netflix has not too long ago began releasing its prime 10 reveals each week, however such figures lack context. Most streaming providers supply even much less viewer information.

Elliott’s transfer to place collectively a consortium to purchase Nielsen additional highlights how the hedge fund best-known for getting small stakes and waging bruising activist campaigns at goal corporations is embracing personal fairness dealmaking.

Current personal fairness offers undertaken by Elliott embrace the $16.5bn takeover of software program firm Citrix in January and the $17bn sale of Athenahealth to a consortium of personal fairness consumers.

Whereas financing prices are rising due to rising rates of interest and larger volatility, the market stays open for giant leveraged buyouts. In March, a consortium of Creation Worldwide, Permira and Crosspoint Capital accomplished the greater than $14bn takeover of McAfee, simply days after Russia’s invasion.

Elliott, which first invested in Nielsen in 2018, had earlier pressured the media information firm to discover a sale which attracted a number of bids from personal fairness teams, together with one led by Blackstone and Hellman & Friedman and one other from Chicago-based Madison Dearborn.

Finally, Nielsen determined to stay unbiased and in 2020 bought its World Join unit, which tracks gross sales of client items, to buyout group Creation Worldwide for $2.7bn.

At a $15bn enterprise worth, the proposed takeover would worth Nielsen at about $27 a share — a roughly 60 per cent premium to the group’s undisturbed market worth, in response to analyst Hunter Martin of CreditSights.

The Wall Avenue Journal first reported on Monday {that a} consortium led by Elliott was in superior talks to purchase Nielsen. A day later Bloomberg reported that Brookfield was a part of the consortium.