Wednesday, May 24, 2006
VNU 78.7% Sold
Valcon says purchase of VNU is done deal
Here's a reason why I'm not rich, I tell you, rich! I predicted that VNU would be broken up and sold in pieces, but I was wrong, at least for now.
Valcon, the consortium of private equity firms bidding on VNU, overcame most shareholder opposition, and is reporting that 78.7% of VNU's shares have been tendered at $37.56. That bid values the company at $11 billion, up from the estimated $9.5 billion valuation first offered in March.
(To make the deal happen, Valcon also lowered its demand that 95% of shares be tendered to 80% and then accepted the 78.7% of shares that came in, but hey, they're declaring victory, and 78.7% smells like a strong majority to me.)
Here's Forbes' report on the deal.
I stand by this previous post, which predicts an eventual breakup of the company, and praises the presence of Bob Krakoff in the consortium.
Interesting side note: while I was cruising Google for more information on the VNU deal, I found an Adword ad from the Financial Times' FT.com:
Vnu
Knight Vinke relents
on sale of VNU shares
FinancialTimes.com
The link took me directly to a relevant story. I hadn't really noticed that kind of editorial promotion in Adwords before, and liked it very much.
Comments
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Here's a reason why I'm not rich, I tell you, rich! I predicted that VNU would be broken up and sold in pieces, but I was wrong, at least for now.
Valcon, the consortium of private equity firms bidding on VNU, overcame most shareholder opposition, and is reporting that 78.7% of VNU's shares have been tendered at $37.56. That bid values the company at $11 billion, up from the estimated $9.5 billion valuation first offered in March.
(To make the deal happen, Valcon also lowered its demand that 95% of shares be tendered to 80% and then accepted the 78.7% of shares that came in, but hey, they're declaring victory, and 78.7% smells like a strong majority to me.)
Here's Forbes' report on the deal.
I stand by this previous post, which predicts an eventual breakup of the company, and praises the presence of Bob Krakoff in the consortium.
Interesting side note: while I was cruising Google for more information on the VNU deal, I found an Adword ad from the Financial Times' FT.com:
Vnu
Knight Vinke relents
on sale of VNU shares
FinancialTimes.com
The link took me directly to a relevant story. I hadn't really noticed that kind of editorial promotion in Adwords before, and liked it very much.
