By Michelle Chapman, AP Business Writer
Nielsen is being acquired for $16 billion, including debt, about a week after the media measurement company rejected a $9 billion offer.
Viewing data collected by Nielsen plays a big role in determining where billions in advertising dollars are spent each year. The company itself has annual global revenue of about $3.5 billion.
A group of private equity investors led by Evergreen Coast Capital Corp., an affiliate of Elliott Investment Management L.P., and Brookfield Business Partners L.P. along with institutional partners will pay $28 for each outstanding Nielsen share.
Brookfield Business Partners will invest approximately $2.65 billion via preferred equity, convertible into 45% of Nielsen's common equity. The equity version of the deal is worth just over $10 billion, with the remainder in debt held by Nielsen.
Brookfield said Tuesday that it anticipates investing approximately $600 million, with the remaining balance funded from institutional partners.
Nielsen Holdings Plc, based in New York City, turned down the group's previous offer, saying it had significantly undervalued the business. After it accepted the revised over, shares of Nielsen jumped 22% at the opening bell.
Nielsen has come under criticism for failing to create new methods of capturing the amount of time people spend watching streaming services, such as Netflix or Hulu. It has become a much more complex task as people now load content on to phones, tablets and other smart devices.
Nielsen is attempting to address those complaints and is expected to launch a new cross-media measurement tool by the end of the year. Nielsen One, according to the company, can deliver more comparable and comprehensive metrics across platforms ranging from traditional televisions to a host of other digital and streaming services.
The board at Nielsen has voted unanimously in support the revised offer, and the company will go private if the transaction closes.
However, there is a 45 day go-shop period during which Nielsen can look at and accept other offers, but breaking the agreement with the private equity group comes with a $102 million termination fee.
The deal is expected to close in the second half of this year. It still needs approval from Nielsen shareholders and regulators.
ABC will air 6 additional “Monday Night Football” games starting this week with Bills-Jets
ABC will simulcast six more ESPN "Monday Night Football" games, including Monday's AFC East matchup between the Buffalo Bills and the New York Jets.
The addition of the six games means ABC will air 17 this season — 14 simulcasts with ESPN (including two playoff games) and three games exclusively on ABC.
The decision to simulcast more games was a joint decision between the NFL and Walt Disney Company, which owns ABC and ESPN.
The other added games are Baltimore at Tampa Bay (Oct. 21), Tampa Bay at Kansas City (Nov. 4), Houston at Dallas (Nov. 18), Baltimore at Los Angeles Chargers (Nov. 25) and New Orleans at Green Bay (Dec. 23).
The only two Mondays the rest of the regular season where ABC will not have a game are Nov. 11 and Dec. 2.
ABC had games all 18 weeks last season due to an agreement with the NFL since there was no new original fall programming due to the Hollywood writers and actors strikes. With more games on network television, "Monday Night Football" averaged 17.36 million viewers across ESPN, ESPN2 and ABC, a 29% increase over 2022.
It was the best audience numbers for the league's seminal prime-time package since 2000. The Super Bowl 57 rematch between Philadelphia and Kansas City averaged 29.03 million.
Coming into the season, ABC had eight scheduled simulcasts, including two Saturday Week 18 games and two playoff games, and three exclusive MNF games when there were doubleheaders.
It also continues Disney's move toward putting more sports programming back on ABC. Super Bowl 61 from Los Angeles in 2027 will be on the network and the College Football Playoff championship game will also move to ABC the same year.
More games on ABC will also boost the ratings. Kansas City's 26-13 victory... Read More