Advent International Closes Acquisition of NielsenIQ for $2.7 Billion

Ropes & Gray represented affiliates of Advent International Corp. in an agreement to acquire NielsenIQ, a unit of Nielsen Holdings plc.  NielsenIQ is Nielsen's former Global Connect business. The transaction was announced on November 1, 2020 and closed on March 5, 2021. The press release is available here.

Advent, one of the largest and most experienced global private equity investors, partnered with James “Jim” Peck, former Chief Executive Officer of TransUnion, to acquire NielsenIQ.  The purchase price is $2.7 billion in cash (subject to customary adjustments).

NielsenIQ provides consumer packaged goods manufacturers and retailers with actionable information and a complete picture of the complex and changing marketplace that brands need to innovate and grow their business.  NielsenIQ offers data and builds tools that use predictive models to turn market observations into business decisions and winning solutions. These data and insights provide the essential foundation that makes markets possible in the rapidly evolving world of commerce.

The Ropes & Gray team that represented Advent was led by private equity partner Christian Westra (Boston) and included private equity partner R. Newcomb Stillwell (Boston), mergers & acquisitions partners Edward Black (Boston) and Matthew Jacobson (San Francisco), tax partners David Saltzman (Boston) and Andrew Howard (London), employment, executive compensation & benefits partners Jennifer Rikoski and Douglas Brayley (both of Boston), antitrust partner Ruchit Patel (London), data, privacy & cybersecurity partners Edward McNicholas (Washington D.C.) and Rohan Massey (London) and litigation & enforcement partners James Dowden and Peter Welsh (both of Boston).