UPDATED with closing price. Nielsen stock closed up 30.5% to end the trading day at a seven-month high after after a report the measurement firm is in advanced talks to be acquired in a $15 billion deal.
After rising more than 40% at one point, shares finished at $22.85, their highest level since August 2021.
In its report about the imminent deal, The Wall Street Journal said the valuation would include debt. It indicated that banks are finalizing the transaction, adding the caveat that the tentative agreement could still fall through.
“As a matter of company policy, Nielsen does not comment on market rumors or speculation,” a company rep told Deadline.
The consortium of companies making the acquisition includes Elliott Management, the firm known for voicing its concerns about AT&T’s business after taking a stake in the telecom firm. After Elliott’s investment and subsequent letters to management, AT&T wound up setting spinoffs for DirecTV and WarnerMedia, two of the key requests the firm had made of company management.
Elliott also took a stake in Nielsen in 2018, urging the company to explore a potential sale.
An acquisition would come at a consequential time for Nielsen, which has faced withering criticism for its perceived shortcomings in measuring linear TV and streaming. Its accreditation was pulled by the Media Rating Council after reports of mistakes in methodology. Nielsen acknowledged a degree of error, but chalked it up to Covid precautions. The company is preparing a new suite of solutions under the banner Nielsen One, which is due to roll out by the end of this year and is touted by the company as a more comprehensive approach.
Nielsen has also faced a mounting number of challengers, among them startups designed for the streaming and smart-TV age. While Nielsen remains the market leader in TV measurement, with decades of history as a third-party provider of data that lie at the heart of the $70 billion TV ad business, there is a belief that a more blended measurement marketplace could diminish its dominance. In movie box office, the company was previously the market leader, but Rentrak (now owned by Comscore) took the baton a little more than decade ago.
Of course, Nielsen’s operations span much more than film and TV. It tracks the music and book publishing sectors and has extensive operations capturing consumer sentiment regarding packaged goods and other products. The company was founded in 1923.
While it has a hefty debt load, the company has been in fairly solid financial shape. It reported earnings per share of 46 cents in the fourth quarter, ahead of Wall Street analysts’ forecast. Revenue of $894 million in the period narrowly missed the Street’s outlook.
