BOSTON — Nielsen Holdings, which has agreed to sell itself to a consortium of private equity firms, said Friday it had been in contact with more than 30 parties during the go-shop phase but had not received any offers to buy the company has been submitted.
The consortium, which includes Elliott Management’s private equity unit and Brookfield Asset Management, offered in March to pay $28 a share for the TV ratings firm.
Nielsen had until May 12 to get a better offer, and reported Friday that only one party had signed a non-disclosure agreement to take a closer look at the financials.
“After careful consideration of whether a higher and better offer could be obtained for Nielsen, the Board has confirmed its view that the transaction with the consortium represents an attractive outcome for our shareholders,” said James Attwood, Nielsen’s chief executive officer.
Nielsen collects viewership data across TV, radio and digital platforms, which advertisers and others use to determine prime time, but it has come under pressure as more people switched to streaming entertainment.
Elliott, one of the world’s largest activist investors with a fortune of $51.1 billion, had pushed Nielsen into a sale in 2018, forcing the market research firm to consider splitting into two public companies a year later.
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