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New VNU Investor Joins Board
VNU has announced the appointment to its Supervisory Board of James M. Kilts, until a month ago Vice Chairman of The Procter & Gamble Company and since co-founder of advisory and equity firm Centerview Partners. Centerview will also make an investment in VNU alongside its six existing private-equity owners.
The six formed the Valcon group which took over the company in May 2006. Details of Centerview Partners' investment have not been disclosed.
At P&G, Kilts oversaw the integration of the P&G and Gillette businesses following the largest-ever merger in the consumer products industry in 2005. Prior to the merger he was Chairman, President and CEO of The Gillette Company. Previous roles include President and CEO of Nabisco, and Head of Kraft's $27 billion worldwide food business. He began his career in 1970 with General Foods Corporation.
David L. Calhoun, Chairman and CEO of VNU, comments: 'We are delighted to welcome Jim Kilts to our Supervisory Board, and to have an executive of his stature and experience on our team.'
Kilts says the growth opportunities for VNU are 'enormous', with the information needs of the CPG industry expanding exponentially: 'As a long-time client of ACNielsen and Nielsen Media Research, I know the critical role they play and the immense value they bring to the consumer-products industry.'
Centerview's other partners are Stephen Crawford, formerly Co-President of Morgan Stanley; Blair Effron, formerly Vice Chairman of UBS; and Robert Pruzan, former CEO of North America for Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein and former President of Wasserstein Perella & Co.
VNU is online at www.vnu.com and Centerview at www.centerviewpartners.com .
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