Date: 04-10-2008
The Nielsen company has agreed to buy audience research firm IAG Research, Inc for a whopping $225 million. The takeover will be effected through a merger of IAG with a subsidiary of Nielsen, and subject to a Hart-Scott-Rodino review and other typical closing conditions. The deal is expected to close in the second quarter of the year. “Everything stays the same,” Mr. Alan Gould, IAG Chief Executive said. “The only difference is we’re going to have access to more data, which for us was a huge selling point.” Some of the data which IAG gathers include information about viewer response to television commercials, and its marketers include high-profile names such as General Motors, Procter & Gamble, Verizon, and Visa. David L. Calhoun, chairman and CEO of Nielsen, said “We are excited by the energy the IAG team will bring to the multiple opportunities they will have at Nielsen.”
