Nielsen Finds $45 Million In Savings With Arbitron Acquisition

$45 Million In Synergy Savings

When NIELSEN acquired ARBITRON, the company told shareholders they could expect to see $20 Million savings in synergies after the merger. It's turned out to be more than double that figure.

In a Schedule 14A form filed by NIELSEN with the SEC, the company explained their management team "has established four strategic initiatives," one of which was the merger with ARBITRON. The expected savings were larger than expected, with the company reporting, "we closed the previously announced acquisition of ARBITRON INC. (“ARBITRON,” rebranded NIELSEN AUDIO) and increased the anticipated net cost synergies associated with the acquisition to $45 million from $20 million."

The company also noted they, "Continued to expand our measurement of what consumers buy in developing markets. We now have a presence in 42 of AFRICA’s 50 countries, expanded into additional countries such as MYANMAR and continued to grow our presence in countries such as CHINA and INDIA, particularly with the local client base," and "extended NIELSEN’s Advertiser Solutions global expansion to NIELSEN Brand Effect -- our advertising 'resonance' suite, which currently includes TV, online and mobile measurement. We expanded our NIELSEN Innovation Lab to include IBM Watson on a trial basis."

Executive Compensation

NIELSEN's board is raising CEO MITCH BARNS' base salary from $800,000 to $1 million. His annual incentive target also rises, from $700,000 to $1.8 million. Also up is his long-term performance plan, from $848,500 to close to $2 million. BARNS will also see his stock options rise from $359,550 to a possible $1 million. In total, that’s about $6.8 million in compensation for this year.

COO BRIAN WEST's base salary is now $950,000, and his “incentive opportunity” is $1,750,000, 75% of which is payable in cash.

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