Nielsen Holdings, a global leader in television audience measurement with a presence in 100 countries, announced terms for its IPO on Monday. The New York, NY-based company plans to raise $1.5 billion by offering 71.4 million shares at a price range of $20-$22. At the mid-point of the proposed range, Nielsen will command a market value of $7.4 billion. Nielsen, which was founded in 1923 by market analyst Arthur Nielsen, booked $5.1 billion in sales for the 12 months ended September 30, 2010. Its two major reporting segments comprise What Consumers Watch (media audience measurement) and What Consumers Buy (consumer purchasing measurement), which together accounted for 97% of 2009 sales.
Net proceeds from the IPO will be used to repay debt and for general corporate purposes. Nielsen, which was bought out by a consortium of investors including KKR, Blackstone, Thomas H. Lee Partners and The Carlyle Group in May 2006 for roughly $9.7 billion, is only one of a handful of large, private equity-backed companies looking to go public, with others including Toys "R" Us (TOYS; proposed $800 million deal size), HCA (HCA; $4.6 billion) and Kinder Morgan (KMI; 1.5 billion).
The TV ratings company plans to list on the NYSE under the symbol NLSN, and also intends to issue $250 million in mandatory convertible debt concurrently with the IPO. J.P. Morgan and Morgan Stanley are the lead underwriters on the deal, which is expected to price during the week of January 24.
