Nielsen Holdings Plc rejected an acquisition proposal from a private equity consortium, saying the offer “significantly” undervalued the company.
The proposal had valued the company at $25.40 per share, a price that doesn’t “adequately compensate shareholders for Nielsen’s growth prospects,” the company said in a statement Sunday. Windacre Partnership LLC, one of its largest shareholders, said in a separate statement it supported the rejection of the offer.
Brookfield Asset Management Inc. had been working with Elliott Investment Management on the potential leveraged buyout of Nielsen, Bloomberg News had previously reported. Shares of the company jumped nearly 40% last week after reports of a potential offer.
Following the rejection of the acquisition bid, Nielsen plans to start buying back its own stock, after having earlier approved a $1 billion share repurchase authorization, the company said in the statement. The repurchases could commence after the company reports first-quarter earnings on April 21.
Read more: BNN Bloomberg
