S&P keeps VNU on negative watch

Standard & Poor's said VNU NV's BBB- long-term and A-3 short-term corporate credit ratings, BBB- senior unsecured bank loan rating and BBB- senior unsecured debt rating remain on CreditWatch with negative implications, where they were placed on Oct. 12.

S&P said the maintenance of the CreditWatch status reflects the announcement that VNU's board has recommended a €7.5 billion cash offer on the company from Valcon Acquisition BV and the significant uncertainties that remain as to whether the deal will be completed and in what form.

VNU has a strong competitive position as the global leader in marketing information and media measurement and a historically moderate financial policy, but S&P said these benefits are tempered by the company's need to maintain significant investment in the collection and processing of marketing data in order to service the group's increasingly sophisticated international customer base.

At Dec. 31, VNU had €2.4 billion of debt, including preference shares. In 2005, it had revenue and EBITDA of €3.5 billion and €587 million, respectively.

© 2015 Prospect News.
All content on this website is protected by copyright law in the U.S. and elsewhere. For the use of the person downloading only.
Redistribution and copying are prohibited by law without written permission in advance from Prospect News.
Redistribution or copying includes e-mailing, printing multiple copies or any other form of reproduction.