VNU Gets Board Approval for Sale To Group of Private-Equity Firms

VNU's biggest shareholders have been complaining that 28.50 euros a share is too low. These shareholders say the company would be worth far more if broken into three units, with two sold off and the other trimmed of excess costs and possibly later sold as well. Some of the biggest money manager...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inThe Wall Street journal. Eastern edition
Main Author Jason Singer and Dennis K. Berman
Format Newspaper Article
LanguageEnglish
Published New York, N.Y Dow Jones & Company Inc 08.03.2006
EditionEastern edition
Subjects
Consortia
Divestiture
Equity
Stock prices
Stockholders
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Summary:VNU's biggest shareholders have been complaining that 28.50 euros a share is too low. These shareholders say the company would be worth far more if broken into three units, with two sold off and the other trimmed of excess costs and possibly later sold as well. Some of the biggest money managers in control of a large portion of the company's stock have vowed to reject any bid that isn't significantly higher, even if the VNU board recommended the deal. That could lead to another showdown between VNU and its shareholders, after shareholders last year forced VNU to abandon its proposed $8 billion acquisition of IMS Health Inc., of the U.S. VNU's chief executive resigned soon thereafter.
ISSN:0099-9660