VNU receives buy-out proposal; becomes majority shareholder in new company.VNU VNU Volontaires des Nations Unies (French) VNU Verenigde Nederlandse Uitgeversbedrijven (Dutch) VNU Virtual Network User (Amsterdam) has received a non-binding proposal to purchase the company for 28 [pounds sterling] to 28.50 [pounds sterling] per common share, or about $8.8 billion, from a private equity consortium consisting of AlpInvest Partners (New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of ), The Blackstone Group Blackstone Group L.P. (NYSE: BX) is a prominent private equity and investment management firm founded in 1985 by Peter G. Peterson and Stephen A. Schwarzman. The company is based in New York City, in River House on Park Avenue at Fifty-first Street, with offices in Atlanta, (New York), The Carlyle Group  The of this article or section may be compromised by "weasel words".You can help Wikipedia by removing weasel words. The Carlyle Group is a Washington, D.C. (New York), Hellman & Friedman (San Francisco, CA), Kohlberg Kravis Roberts Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co (commonly referred to as KKR) is a New York City-based private equity firm that focuses primarily on late-stage leveraged buyouts. It was founded in 1976 by Jerome Kohlberg, Jr., and cousins Henry Kravis and George R. & Co. (New York), Permira (New York) and Thomas H. Lee Partners  This article or section is written like an .Please help [ rewrite this article] from a neutral point of view. Mark blatant advertising for , using . Thomas H. (New York). VNU said the proposal was made after several weeks of diligence and access to VNU management. The offer comes two months after VNU abandoned its proposed acquisition of IMS Health for $7 billion, a deal that VNU stockholders said they would not approve under any circumstances. VNU will proceed with discussions with the consortium as it continues to weigh alternatives and evaluates "what course of action will serve the best interests of shareholders." VNU is currently not in discussions with any other party. VNU said it hopes to provide further information in three to four weeks. In related news, VNU has acquired a 50.1% majority ownership in BuzzMetrics (New York), a company that has just completed the purchase of Intelliseek (Cincinnati, OH). Both BuzzMetrics and Intelliseek provide tracking and analysis of online consumer-oriented media, including word-of-mouth behavior and influence. The combined company offers technologies that mine publicly archived online sources, including blogs, public message boards, product feedback sites, direct company feedback and discussion forums, to collect and transform large volumes of unaided conversations into actionable consumer insights. The new combined company will operate under the "Nielsen BuzzMetrics" brand. Minority investors in the company include Blue Chip, Blue Run and River City Capital Funds. |
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