Nielsen Delays Buyout Meetings To Finalize Deal With Holdout Shareholder

By
( )
last updated

WindAcre Partnership to get $28 a share

New Nielsen Logo

Nielsen said that it has postponed meetings to approve its acquisition by a private equity group led by Elliott Management in order to finalize an agreement with WindAcre Partnership, owner of 27% of Nielsen’s shares.

WindAcre has opposed the deal and bought $918 million worth of Nielsen stock in April. 

Nielsen last month announced that it had received regulatory approval for the deal.

A preliminary agreement calls for WindAcre to join the private equity group and get $28 a share–the same price offered to other shareholders–for its stockholdings.

Word of the agreement with WindAcre sent Nielsen shares soaring 20% in Tuesday morning trading.

Nielsen warned that a deal with WindAcre might not be consummated and that the transaction would be put to a vote of shareholders.

Nielsen said it and the private equity group are still bound by the terms of their agreement and that meeting will be held to go forward with the $16 billion buyout.  ■

Jon Lafayette
Jon Lafayette

Jon has been business editor of Broadcasting+Cable since 2010. He focuses on revenue-generating activities, including advertising and distribution, as well as executive intrigue and merger and acquisition activity. Just about any story is fair game, if a dollar sign can make its way into the article. Before B+C, Jon covered the industry for TVWeek, Cable World, Electronic Media, Advertising Age and The New York Post. A native New Yorker, Jon is hiding in plain sight in the suburbs of Chicago.