Brookfield Asset Management is part of an investment group that hopes to take iconic television-ratings company Nielsen Holdings plc private in a US$10-billion deal.
The consortium will take on just over US$5.8-billion in Nielsen debt, prompting Nielsen to label the transaction a US$16-billion deal. While many know Nielsen for its television ratings, the company has branched out into measures of audience and other data and analytics across multiple platforms, in 55 countries. It had US$3.5-billion in revenue last year.
Nielsen said WindAcre’s ownership disclosures on March 14 said the investor had economic exposure to 51,914,900 Nielsen shares, or 14.44 per cent of Nielsen, through total return swaps. That is in addition to its 9.6 per cent common-share ownership.