Nielsen And WPP To Swap Assets

Nielsen And WPP To Swap Assets

NEW YORK and LONDON, Nov. 11 /PRNewswire/ -- The Nielsen Company and WPP have today jointly announced that they have signed a definitive agreement to swap certain assets.

Nielsen will now own 100% of AGBNielsen Media Research, a leading international television audience media measurement business, by acquiring the 50% currently held by WPP. AGBNMR, Nielsen's North American television measurement business and Nielsen's media measurement businesses in online, mobile, advertising and radio measurement will form the global foundation of Nielsen's media product portfolio.

In return, Nielsen will transfer to WPP: firstly, SRDS, the leading provider of media rates and data to the advertising industry; secondly, PERQ/HCI, which provides a range of services to give insights into media planning, trading and post campaign effectiveness in the field of healthcare; and thirdly, its 11% share in IBOPE PDM, IBOPE LA and IMI.Com, which are part of the IBOPE Group, a Latin American multinational firm, based in Brazil, and the market leader specializing in media, market and opinion research. WPP already holds a 31% stake in IBOPE. These assets will be added to The Kantar Group, WPP's information, insight and consultancy division.

The transaction is expected to close by year end and originates from a regulatory need for WPP to dispose of either its AGBNMR stake or TNS's European television audience measurement business.

"In an increasingly digital world, it is essential for Nielsen to strengthen its global market position," said Nielsen Chairman and CEO David Calhoun. "As a fully integrated part of our company, AGBNMR will be an important part of our portfolio and better positioned to offer high quality measurement for its clients. We are confident that our AGBNMR colleagues and their clients will be an important asset to The Nielsen Company and we look forward to working with them more closely. At the same time, we appreciate the value that SRDS and PERC/HCI have created for Nielsen and we are confident our colleagues in those businesses will continue to deliver important insights for clients as part of the Kantar Group."

Eric Salama, CEO of Kantar, said: "The decision to dispose of our 50% stake in AGBNielsen Media Research was a difficult one. However, the strength and breadth of the TNS offer and the quality of the management team provide us with a unique opportunity to develop Kantar Group's integrated media measurement and insight capability, in which we and our clients believe so strongly. At the same time, it strengthens an already powerful relationship with IBOPE, for whom we have considerable respect and, at the same time, allows us to strengthen our healthcare offer through PERQ/HCI and develop a new stream of business through SRDS. Finally, we would like to say thank you to all the AGB people for their efforts over the years that we have been involved together and to wish them well."

For further information please contact:

Eric Salama, CEO Kantar Group
T. +44 (0)7785 234505

Jim Donaldson, Hill & Knowlton (for Kantar)
T. +44 (0)20 7413 3058

Gary Holmes, Nielsen
T. +1 646-654-8975

About Nielsen

The Nielsen Company is a global information and media company with leading market positions in marketing and consumer information, television and other media measurement, online intelligence, mobile measurement, trade shows and business publications (Billboard, The Hollywood Reporter, Adweek). The privately held company is active in more than 100 countries, with headquarters in New York, USA. For more information, please visit, www.nielsen.com.

About WPP

WPP is the world leader in communication services. Through its operating companies, the Group provides a comprehensive range of advertising and marketing services including advertising; media investment management; information, insight and consultancy; public relations and public affairs; branding and identity; healthcare communications; direct, digital, promotion and relationship marketing; and specialist communications. The company employs 131,000 people (including associates) in 2,000 offices in 106 countries. For more information, visit www.wpp.com.

About Kantar

The Kantar Group is one of the world's largest research, insight and consultancy networks. By uniting the diverse talents of more than 20 specialist companies - including the recently-acquired TNS - the group aims to become the pre-eminent provider of compelling and actionable insights for the global business community. Its 26,500 employees work across 80 countries and across the whole spectrum of research and consultancy disciplines, enabling the group to offer clients business insights at each and every point of the consumer cycle. The group's services are employed by over half of the Fortune Top 500 companies. The Kantar Group is a wholly-owned subsidiary of WPP. For further information, please visit us at www.kantargrouptns.com.

Source: The Nielsen Company

CONTACT: Eric Salama, CEO, Kantar Group, +44 (0)7785 234505; Jim
Donaldson of Hill & Knowlton, for Kantar, +44 (0)20 7413 3058; Gary Holmes of
The Nielsen Company, +1-646-654-8975

Web Site: http://www.kantargrouptns.com/
http://www.nielsen.com/
http://www.wpp.com/

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