Advent to Become Majority Owner of Combined NielsenIQ/GfK

NielsenIQ and GfK will combine into a single entity offering “new capabilities in the consumer and retail measurement industry,” said the companies Friday. The terms of their definitive merger agreement weren’t disclosed. The transaction is expected to close later this year or early 2023, until which NielsenIQ and GfK will continue to operate as independent companies, they said. Private equity firm Advent International, which bought NielsenIQ last year, will remain majority shareholder in the combined venture, while the nonprofit Nuremberg Institute for Market Decisions, GfK’s founder and anchor shareholder, will maintain a “key” ownership stake, they said.