Nielsen owner VNU receives Buyout Offer

[SOURCE: Bloomberg News, AUTHOR: Charles Goldsmith and Edward Evans]
Media research and publishing company VNU, the owner of the U.S. Nielsen TV ratings, said Monday it has received a buyout offer worth up to $8.8 billion from a group of private equity firms. The consortium of bidders includes AlpInvest Partners, The Blackstone Group, The Carlyle Group, Hellman & Friedman, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, Permira and Thomas H. Lee Partners. VNU sells marketing information such as Nielsen's ratings, and more than half its sales are in the USA. It also runs trade fairs and as a publisher is best known for Billboard and Hollywood Reporter magazines.
http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/money/20060117/3b_vmu17.art.htm