BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Advent-owned NielsenIQ’s said it had notified the European Commission it would withdraw the current acquisition filing for German market research firm GfK, adding a new tie-up plan would be submitted “as soon as possible”.
“During ongoing discussions, the Commission made clear that approval is possible provided that certain remedies are created in connection with this combination,” NielsenIQ said in a statement, adding:
“Unfortunately, because of the compressed time period to test any proposed remedies, the parties, in consultation with the Commission, determined that the best course of action is to refile for approval in the coming weeks.”
People familiar with the matter had told Reuters earlier this week that the tie-up was likely to face a full-scale EU antitrust investigation, with regulators demanding asset sales in return for clearing the deal.
Private equity firm Advent International announced the deal to create a leading provider of retail and consumer measurement data in July last year.
“Our commitment to this combination is unwavering”, NielsenIQ said on Friday.
NielsenIQ has operations in more than 90 markets, covering more than 90% of the world’s population while GfK leads in market research on technology and durables in 67 countries.
(Reporting by Benoit Van Overstraeten; Editing by Louise Heavens)