Nielsen Goes Public On Plans To, Well, Go Public

After years of operating under as a quasi private company controlled by a group of private equity firms, Nielsen Co. is preparing to once again be traded as a public company. The world's largest media and marketing research company last week sent requests-for-proposals to top investment banks to underwrite an initial public offering (IPO) that could e worth as much as $21 billion, the Financial Times reported in its Sunday edition.

Citing unnamed sources, the paper said Nielsen's private equity owners are looking to make a gain on the $10 billion they invested to take Nielsen private in 2006, a deal that made many top Nielsen executives rich in the process.

The paper said Nielsen's owners are hoping to value the company at 11 to 13 times earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA), which is projected to be about $1.6 billion this year.

Before being taken public its first time in the late 1990s, Nielsen had been owned by Cognizant Corp., and Dun & Bradstreet before that. In 2001, it was acquired by publicly traded Dutch publishing company VNU, which sold it off in an LBO to its current group of private equity investors in 2006.

Nielsen was founded by Arthur C. Nielsen in 1923.

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1 comment about "Nielsen Goes Public On Plans To, Well, Go Public".
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  1. B H from none, May 6, 2010 at 10:57 a.m.

    Go public after selling out America, nice. Typical Wallstreet transaction.

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