Ropes & Gray Advises Advent International in its Agreement to Acquire Nielsen Global Connect for $2.7 Billion

Ropes & Gray represented affiliates of Advent International Corp. in a definitive agreement to acquire Nielsen Global Connect, a unit of Nielsen Holdings plc.  Advent, one of the largest and most experienced global private equity investors, will partner with James “Jim” Peck, former Chief Executive Officer of TransUnion, to acquire Nielsen Global Connect.  The purchase price is $2.7 billion in cash (subject to customary adjustments), and Nielsen will also receive warrants in the new company which will own Nielsen Global Connect and which will be exercisable in certain circumstances.

The transaction was announced on November 1. The press release is available here.

Nielsen Global Connect 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.  Nielsen Global Connect 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 partners 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).