The firm which manages Britain’s tv viewers measurement system, BARB, is to be put up on the market as its personal fairness backers eye a windfall value a whole bunch of thousands and thousands of kilos.
Sky News has learnt that Kantar Media, a division of the Kantar market analysis big which employs 25,000 folks all over the world, might be auctioned later this 12 months.
City sources stated on Friday that Bain Capital, Kantar’s majority proprietor, was within the technique of appointing funding bankers to supervise a sale course of.
Industry insiders stated that Kantar Media might be value as a lot as £1bn.
It was unclear precisely when a gross sales course of may get beneath manner.
Bain acquired a 60% stake in Kantar in 2019 in a deal which valued the analysis and analytics group at about £3.2bn.
The remaining 40% stake continues to be owned by WPP, the FTSE-100 advertising and marketing providers group.
Kantar Media conducts broadcast viewers measurement in 62 nations, together with France, Spain, Norway and components of Latin America.
Its expertise is utilized in a further 24 nations, making it a globally important participant within the manufacturing of TV rankings information utilized by advertisers.
Sources stated it was additionally taking part in a aggressive course of being run within the US to ascertain a rival service to the viewers measurement enterprise of Nielsen, one other main market analysis group.
Kantar Media’s present contract with BARB, signed in 2021, runs till 2029, encompassing the majority of a decade by which customers’ viewing habits are persevering with to shift amid the expansion of digital viewing platforms.
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BARB information is predicated on a consultant panel of seven,000 households, which use viewers measurement expertise known as Kantar People Meter 7.
According to an announcement on the time of the contract win, Kantar stated it could gather information on behalf of BARB equating to greater than 163 billion minutes – the equal of greater than 300,000 years – of playtime yearly.
Kantar Media additionally features a division known as PGI, which is an ‘audience-builder’ service for advertisers.
According to outcomes revealed in November for the 9 months to the top of September, Kantar Media noticed an 8% improve in year-on-year revenues to $353m.
Over the final 12 months, the viewers measurement subsidiary has turn into operationally impartial of its father or mother, sparking inside hypothesis that it is likely to be earmarked for disposal.
Kantar Media is now run by Patrick Behar, a former govt at Sky, the rapid father or mother firm of Sky News.
The wider Kantar group, which offers high-profile market share information on the UK’s grocery retailing sector and boasts that it’s utilized by 96 of the world’s 100 largest advertisers, is run by Chris Jansen, brother of the outgoing BT Group boss Philip.
It is chaired by Adam Crozier, the previous ITV and Royal Mail chief govt.
A spokesman for Kantar declined to remark, whereas Bain was contacted for remark.
Source: information.sky.com”