The British WPP holding has agreed to sell TNS to the state military

The British communication holding WPP, forced to sell the TNS Russia research company, due to the amendments to the laws on media and advertising, which forbidden foreign researchers adopted by the State Duma, agreed on its sale of VTsIO-Media, a subsidiary of the State All-Russian Center for Study of Public Opinion (VTsIOM). About this newspaper "Vedomosti" told the general director of the "VTsIOM-Media" Alexei Malinin.

According to him, the parties "agreed fundamentally", "only formalities remained." A source close to TNS confirmed this. “VTsIOM-Media”, according to the newspaper, buys 80% of the Russian TNS.

The fact that the transaction will be closed within a month, a source close to the buyer told Kommersant . VTsIOM-Media "buys a share in the companies of the TNS group that controls assets in the field of media studies and measurements", the contract was signed this week, said the source of the newspaper and added that the company has all the databases, while there are no plans to change the command. "

For the VTsome, the purchase of TNS is dictated exclusively by business interests, Malinin told Vedomosti: “TNS - albeit not a very large, but profitable business. The company works in a strategically very important measurement area that has long been interesting to the VCIO. Moreover, TNS studies the audience of not only an ether TV, but also the Internet. The technological side of the development of the media becomes more and more significant.” He added that it is important for VTsIOM to preserve the continuity of measurements, the state -owned company intends to work closely with WPP and develop TNS.

VTsIOM was called among probable buyers in mid -June. According to the source of the newspaper familiar with the details of the negotiations, the transaction amount will be small compared to TNS revenue, which marks five billion rubles.

The international company TNS (Taylor Nelson Sofres), which is part of Kantar Media, owned by WPP, is the main television meter in Russia. TNS Russia is a research group that has measured the ratings and sells this data since the late 1990s, monitors the release of advertising messages on TV, radio, the press and Internet and performs research under the order of specific customers, now belongs to WPP 100%.

The company's sale was forced. According to the bill of the deputy from the LDPR faction Andrei Lugovoi, adopted on June 22, television measurements are prohibited to companies, the share of foreign capital in which exceeds 20%. “In our work in each country, we are guided by local legislation,” Eric Salam, CEO of Kantar Media, said this decision.