CMA Provisionally Clears Nielsen Buy from Ebiquity

The UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has provisionally approved Ebiquity's sale of its Advertising Intelligence business to Nielsen, on an unconditional basis. The deal has been valued at £26m.

UK-based media and marketing analytics firm Ebiquity first announced the sale in February, saying it wanted to focus on its faster growing, higher margin, tech-enabled consultancy practices, Media Value Measurement and Marketing Performance Optimization.

The CMA says the proposed merger does not raise competition concerns. It is now asking for views on these provisional findings by 1st November 2018 and will assess all the evidence before making a final decision. In a statement, Ebiquity said that together with Nielsen, it looks forward to continuing to engage with the CMA as it works towards its final report ahead of the 9th December statutory deadline.

Commenting on the publication, Michael Karg (pictured), CEO of Ebiquity said: 'We are encouraged by the CMA's provisional findings report following its in-depth investigation. The planned disposal of Advertising Intelligence to Nielsen will allow Ebiquity to continue investment in its core consultancy practices, better align the business to the significant market growth opportunities and materially reduce net debt'.

Web sites: www.ebiquity.com and www.nielsen.com .

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas, 2024- by Nick Thomas, unless otherwise stated.