By Foo Yun Chee
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Advent-owned NielsenIQ and GfK are prepared to sell the German market research firm’s consumer panel business to secure EU antitrust regulators’ concerns over their tie-up, a person with direct knowledge of the matter said on Friday.
NielsenIQ will refile its request to the European Commission for approval of the deal as soon as possible after pulling the filing last month due to time constraints, the person said.
The EU competition enforcer had been poised to open a full-scale investigation into the deal and demand asset sales just before the companies withdrew their request, other people familiar with the matter told Reuters.
NielsenIQ is present 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.
GfK’s consumer panel business, which covers 122,500 households and 1,800 retailers, offers a combination of diverse data from one single source that shows patterns, trends and predictions, according to its website.
Rivals worry the merger could reduce competition and even result in a monopoly in some markets.
(Reporting by Foo Yun Chee; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)