New York, NY, December 1, 2015 – The Nielsen Company (NYSE: NLSN) has sold National Research Group (NRG) to The Stagwell Group via its fund Stagwell Media LLC.  NRG has over 100 employees and two offices located in Los Angeles, California and London, England, serving Hollywood studios primarily through its global tracking product that provides critical metrics in the weeks leading up to the release of their movies.

JEGI (www.jegi.com), the leading independent investment bank for the global media, information, marketing, software and tech-enabled services sectors, headquartered in New York, NY, represented The Nielsen Company in this transaction.

Founded in the late 1970s, NRG has been a pioneer in movie marketing research and continues today with a key focus on working with the major and independent studios and their home entertainment divisions.  Annually, the firm conducts over one million tracking survey interviews online and by mobile phone across the 13 largest movie markets around the world, including ad hoc research consisting of movie screenings, focus groups, exit surveys, ad/trailer testing and industry benchmark studies.

“We are excited to welcome NRG into the Stagwell family of companies, and as a market research practitioner for the last 40 years, I’m particularly pleased to add these key capabilities,” said Mark Penn, Managing Partner and President of Stagwell Group, LLC.  “NRG has been a global leader in Hollywood market research, and we see product innovation as a key ingredient for success in a rapidly changing entertainment marketing landscape,” Penn added.

Howard Ballon, an experienced entertainment research leader, has been appointed Interim Chief Executive Officer of NRG upon closing of the transaction.

About National Research Group
National Research Group (NRG) provides market research and consulting services to the entertainment industry.  The company engages in the testing of promotional materials, as well as in the marketing of motion pictures for theatrical release for movie studios.

About The Stagwell Group LLC
The Stagwell Group LLC is a registered investment adviser, formed in December 2014 by Mark Penn, who serves as the Managing Partner and President of Stagwell Media LLC, a private equity fund.  The fund previously announced it has raised $250 million in capital and may leverage that to make up to $750 million in acquisitions.  For more information, visit www.stagwellgroup.com.

About JEGI
JEGI has been the leading independent investment bank for the global media, information, marketing, software and tech-enabled services sectors for nearly 28 years.  Headquartered in New York, with offices in Boston and Atlanta, and partners in London and India, JEGI has completed nearly 600 high‐profile M&A transactions, serving global corporations; middle‐market and emerging companies; entrepreneurial owners and founders; and private equity and venture capital firms.  For more information, visit www.jegi.com.