The Carlyle Group and five other private equity underwriters (PEU's) purchased Nielsen for $10.2 billion in 2006. Washington Business Journal reported:
Private equity investors plan to raise as much as $1.75 billion in an initial public offering of Nielsen Holdings BV, the television audience ratings company.It's not clear how much money they've siphoned from Nielsen via dividends and management fees, but they're ready for a $1.75 billion payday. Carlyle continues ringing the register.
Update: Nielsen's S-1 shows $46 million in Sponsor Monitoring Fees from 2006-2010. Interest expense over the period ranged from $640 million to $675 million. Their provision for income taxes was a negative $263 million. The company lost $32 million on derivatives the last two years. It undertook a transformation initiative which expanded "the outsourcing or off-shoring of certain other operational production processes."
