VNU
ORG
VNU
VNU came under attack from its shareholders, not just hedge funds, but also old-guard institutions like Fidelity, after it tried to buy IMS Health. The investors successfully pushed the company to drop the deal and to effectively oust Rob van den Bergh, the chief executive who had promoted VNU's bid. A consortium of private equity investors showed up on VNU's doorstep with a takeover offer worth $8.9 billion that conveniently found its way into the newspapers. NOW, under some duress, VNU has discloded information about the inner working of the company to the investor group, which includes AlpInvest Partners, the Blackstone Group, the Carlyle Group, Hellman & Friedman, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, Permira and Thomas H. Lee Partners to perform due diligence. VNU came under attack from its shareholders -- not just hedge funds, but also old-guard institutions like Fidelity -- after it tried to buy IMS Health, a health care market researcher. A consortium of private equity investors showed up on VNU's doorstep with a takeover offer worth $8.9 billion that conveniently found its way into the newspapers. Inside VNU, according to people close to it, there is an internal divide about what to do -- and whether management may simply have to take the deal because the genie is already out of the bottle. If VNU doesn't agree to be acquired, it could be left in the same awkward spot that the Computer Sciences Corporation, a technology outsourcing company, is now in.