A proposed acquisition of TNS by GfK was canceled, according to an article published in Daily Research News Online.
An original “merger of equals” between the two market research firms was announced last April. According to the Daily Research News Online article, the merger was thwarted by a WPP bid of $2.1 billion to acquire TNS, which was preliminarily rejected on the grounds that it “substantially undervalued” the company.
According to a GfK company statement, the management board “has concluded that the terms of the financing available did not enable a sufficiently compelling alternative cash offer to be made for TNS that was also economically in the best interests of the GfK shareholders.”
Marion Eisenblatter, a GfK spokesperson, said the company will continue looking for aquisitions in the future, but probably won’t consider firms as large as TNS.
GfK is a market research firm employing approximately 9,300 people worldwide. The initial merger of equals with TNS would have created GfK-TNS, with global head offices in London and Germany.
