A consortium of private-equity firms including Elliott Management Corp. is in advanced talks to buy TV-ratings company Nielsen Holdings PLC for about $15 billion including debt, according to people familiar with the matter.
Financing talks with a number of banks are progressing and a takeover deal could be completed within weeks, the people said. There is no guarantee there will be a deal, as the talks could still fall apart.
Should there be one, it would be substantial. Nielsen had a market value of $6.2 billion Monday morning and what is known as an enterprise value of more than $11 billion, given its hefty debt load of over $5 billion.
Other details, including potential price per share, couldn’t be learned.
For years, Nielsen has been synonymous with measuring U.S. TV ratings, which provide audience estimates that networks use to sell commercial time and reassure advertisers they got what they paid for. But its hold has been loosening as streaming gains steam and traditional broadcast and cable TV lose viewers. While the New York-based company has introduced metrics for streaming in recent years, it is one of many players in that field.
