• by Wayne Friedman , December 23, 2019

Following the news of Nielsen's plan to split into two businesses, the company announced that its chief financial officer/chief operating officer David Anderson will be departing at the end of this year.

"Dave Anderson played an important role at Nielsen during a critical time for the company. We appreciate his many contributions," says David Kenny, chief executive officer in a release. 

Kenny added: “We are full steam ahead in preparing for the separation of our Global Media and Global Connect businesses... As independent, publicly traded companies, Media and Connect will enjoy added flexibility and further strengthen their paths towards a new phase of growth, productivity and industry leadership.”

The company continued to reaffirm its financial guidance for the upcoming year. On Monday morning trading, Nielsen stock was down 1.4% to $20.51.

Last week, Barclays lowered its rating on the company, assigning a target of $20. Its stock sank 3% on the day.

For all of 2019, Nielsen expects its global media business to see revenue up 2% to 3% to $3.4 billion, with its global connect-marketing business to be down 2% to flat at $3.1 billion.

Last month, it estimated that the planned separation into two companies would take anywhere between nine months and a year to complete.