3i writes a new chapter in VNU Media's history.
A long-standing relationship with management, a convincing bid and an excellent track record in the industry has enabled 3i to acquire VNU Media, a leading Dutch careers classified and B2B magazine group.
Leader in the Dutch classified recruitment market
VNU Media focuses on the recruitment sector as well as IT and business, delivering valuable news and information through leading titles such as Intermediair, Computable and Management Team. Online, the Intermediair Online and Nationale Vacaturebank brands have substantial market position. VNU Media also has operations in Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK.
"3i has a track record of successful investments in classified ads in newspapers, yellow pages and online and we were keen to make another investment in the sector and identified VNU Media as a prime target." Mark Redman, Partner, 3i Benelux.
Passion for the deal
In 2006, VNU Media's parent company, Nielsen felt the business did not fit with their plans and led a trade sale through competitive auction. 3i won the deal because of its long-standing relationship with management and strong track record in the media sector. 3i worked closely with Rob Van der Bergh, former CEO of VNU Media's parent company, who provided invaluable information about the business. The media sector team led by Crevan O'Grady was able to convey 3i's sector expertise by referring to previous investments in YBR, a European directories business and Poliris, a leading online real estate listings service. In addition, 3i's pan-European network was invaluable in winning the successful bid.
"VNU Media is a large and complicated company with operations in different European countries. The vendor was expecting to have to break up the company due to the group's complexity but was really hoping to sell it as a whole. As we have offices across Europe, we were able to prove that we had the ability to purchase the entire business and this was a major factor in us winning the deal." Mark Redman, Partner, 3i, Benelux.
3i will focus on developing VNU Media's print and online offerings. Crevan O'Grady, Head of Media, 3i, predicts:
"We believe that VNU Media has the ability to become one of the two dominant market players in the online classified recruitment space in The Netherlands."