Nielsen buys Precima to expand retail, CPG analytics

Dive Brief:

• Nielsen Global Connect acquired Precima, a retail strategy analytics startup, from Alliance Data Systems for an undisclosed amount. The deal expands the media and ratings company’s division that focuses on retail and consumer packaged goods (CPG), according to an announcement shared with Marketing Dive.​
• Precima has a software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform that relies on artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning tech to help retailers improve planning and operations for marketing, promotions, pricing, inventory and collaborations with suppliers. As a result of the deal, Nielsen Global Connect clients will have access to Precima’s services such as consumer loyalty and retailer analytics software.​
• Precima’s employees will join Nielsen Global Connect once the deal closes. The company will be referred to as “Precima, a Nielsen company,” in its branding. Nielsen Global Connect is being spun off from Nielsen as a separate public company in a transaction that’s expected to be completed this year, per an earlier announcement.

Dive Insight:

Nielsen Global Connect’s planned acquisition of Precima indicates the Nielsen spinoff is forging ahead with a strategy to provide marketers, including CPG companies and retailers, with a broader range of research and analytics services. The acquisition likely will help to shore up the Connect business that has dragged on Nielsen’s results, leading activist investors to push for a complete company spinoff, Bloomberg reported.

Nielsen Connect’s revenue slipped 2.2% to $746 million in Q3 from a year earlier amid declines from its two business units, quarterly results show. The Measure business declined 2.8% to $530 million, while its Activate unit slid 1% to $216 million. Those results held back Nielsen’s growth, limiting it to a 1% increase in total revenue of $1.6 billion during the most recently reported quarter. Nielsen’s losses jumped to $472 million, which it partly attributed to a $1 billion write-down of goodwill related to Nielsen Connect.

It’s not clear how much money Precima makes, given that its operations were part of ADS’s LoyaltyOne segment. LoyaltyOne’s revenue declined 6% to $1.44 billion in Q3 from a year earlier. LoyaltyOne operates the Air Miles reward program in Canada and BrandLoyalty, a global provider of customized loyalty programs for grocers, per a separate announcement.