Iconic broadcast ratings provider Nielsen N.V. is currently a legal resident of the Netherlands, but it is considering pulling up stakes and settling down in an entirely different nation.
But before anything happens, the company’s shareholders will have to weigh in.
The nation being eyed for new digs: The United Kingdom.
The company stated, “The current treatment that the Company receives under the US-Netherlands tax treaty is conditioned upon shareholder residency requirements that may limit investment by investors outside of these countries. Relocating the Company’s legal domicile is primarily intended to maintain the current treatment while eliminating these residency requirements, thus enabling Nielsen to attract a broader group of investors from around the world. The change in its legal domicile is not expected to significantly alter Nielsen’s worldwide effective corporate tax rate.”
Nielsen CEI Mitch Barns added, “Our Board has reviewed the Company’s corporate domicile and agrees that re-incorporating in the U.K., where the company already has operations, is in the best long-term interest of the Company and its shareholders. We are a global company, and this change positions Nielsen well as we continue to attract sophisticated global investors, adhere to the highest corporate governance standards, and execute on our long-term growth strategy.”
Paperwork is in to form Nielsen Holdings Limited, the name that would be used should the move to UK be approved at the company’s 2015 shareholders meeting.
