Buyout Bid (from Carlyle Group et al.) for Parent of Nielsen

[Newsjock]

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/17/business/worldbusiness/17vnu.html?pagewanted=all

VNU, the Dutch publishing and market research company that owns ACNielsen, turned from predator to prey on Monday when it received a buyout offer from a group of private equity investors for as much as $8.9 billion.

VNU, which also owns Nielsen Media Research and trade publications like Billboard and The Hollywood Reporter, said it had been approached by a consortium of leading private equity firms - AlpInvest Partners, the Blackstone Group, the Carlyle Group, Hellman & Friedman, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, Permira and Thomas H. Lee Partners.

The offer is worth 28 to 28.50 euros ($34.01 to $34.62) a share, a price that analysts said might be on the low side.

But VNU shareholders may have little alternative to accepting a private equity offer because no potential buyer has emerged from the media sector.

[Dhalgren]

1. One more brick in the foundation of their

New Thousand Year Reich. Now they will not only tell us what to watch, but will also be able to determine what we watch - whether we watch it or not! See how that works? A new program that the Party doesn't like comes up and dies on the vine because no one watches it - even if the audience is really huge...

[lapfog_1]

2. Total Information Awareness, Total information control

soon, the Daily Show will suffer a "ratings drop" and advertisers will pull their ads...

A truly insidious scheme to control Hollywood.

The Presidency, the House and Senate, the Judiciary, the Major News outlets, the lobbyists, and, of course, the corporations...
and now the entertainment industry.

Only thing left will be the internet... and they are monitoring it constantly and making their "enemies list" of people to be
interred in those secret FEMA camps - when the time comes.

[mom cat]

9. Can I share a prison cell with you?

I hear your fear and share it. Help stop Alito.

[lapfog_1]

11. Uhh... I'm trying to cash in as much $$ as I can

change it for Euros, gold coins, rupees... and live in India or Costa Rica. I don't know how long before I go... but I hope before night falls on the USA.

But you are welcome to come with me.

Honestly, I'm not sure we can roll back the tide... especially with our nearly spineless "Representatives" that we have now.

[mom cat]

12. Maybe not, but I am too stuborn to quit. I know that is going to get

rough and I wish you the best. I am probably too old to get a permanent resident visa anywhere, so I will have to make the best of it. Thanks for the offer though. Good luck and stay in touch.

[converted_democrat]

3. This is going to present BIG problems....n/t

[papau]

4. Anyone think they just want Grocery Store Scanner ACNielsen unit?

Didn't think so.

The new lower ratings for left of the dial and black radio/TV will now continue (not that I know they are in error - just that the new system dropped those ratings).

[AX10]

5. and a sudden drop in the ratings for non-right wing programing will...

start then. Damn Carlyle! They should be shut down with military force and their assets sold off. Also, all their employees should be jailed.

[lagavulin]

6. Almost all of these companies feature in Confessions of an Economic Hitman

These firms are major "control freaks", and agents of a distinct Western Imperialist agenda. If you haven't read John Perkins "Confessions..." I highly recommend it.

By itself this should appear to be a highly unusual consortium of buyers for what is essentially a ratings agency--quite a step outside of their usual portfolio of resource distribution and military corps. There can be absolutely no doubt whatsoever that the purpose of this acquisition is simply to gain leverage over these media sectors. Which makes sense, really...I mean think about it...isn't the entertainment industry the last (organized) bastion of popular anti-NeoCon activism?

[Laelth]

13. Thanks for the book recommendation.

And welcome to DU!

:patriot:

-Laelth

[Wilms]

7. Ouch. n/t

[KoKo]

8. There's not alot of quality "entertainment" out there. I think it's dying

off.. Maybe in the next ten years we will be able to get most of our media by "selection." Independent production that's available on the internet that can be broadcast to your TV.

I'm thinking of the I-Pod phenomenon. Kids today want to listen to their own music...and Adults can now hear their own music in their car from their I-Pod. What will this do to the "Clear Channel" stations? When no one cares to listen to their "automated mix?" Lot's of them aren't even watching TV but into their own worlds of video games and music.

I'd like to envision a time when we can watch what we want to and find a way to support more quality produced programming that we could store and watch when we want to. I'm sick of the ads and paying for cable stations I don't watch. Pod casting is just breaking into this.

I don't know..maybe there will be a way to get around what the Carlyle Companies are trying to do to limit our choices and mold their aquisitions into their "Corporate Think."

:shrug:

[blm]

10. This is what's REALLY happening while media focuses on Mrs. Alito and

the honeymoon murder.