Nielsen Hires Former Honeywell Finance Chief

By Tatyana Shumsky

Nielsen Holdings PLC named former Honeywell International Inc. finance chief David J. Anderson to lead its finance team, the company said Wednesday.

Mr. Anderson will join the company immediately and take over as the chief financial officer on Monday. He will succeed Jamere Jackson, who last month left the television-ratings company to join car-rental giant Hertz Global Holdings Inc. as chief financial officer.

Mr. Anderson was most recently finance chief at Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc., where he served from December 2016 to August 2017. Before that he was CFO of industrial conglomerate Honeywell from 2003 to 2014. Before that, Mr. Anderson served as CFO of diversified manufacturer ITT Industries Inc. and of Newport News Shipbuilding.

"Dave's deep financial expertise and strategic skills will enable him to make a strong and immediate contribution to Nielsen," said James Attwood, executive chairman of Nielsen.

Mr. Anderson joins Nielsen as the company navigates uncertain waters. Chief Executive Mitch Barns in July announced plans to step down at year-end, while the company launched a strategic review of its "buy" business, or the part of the company that provides data on retail and consumer behavior.

The media-ratings company is also facing pressure to sell itself from activist investor Elliott Management Corp., which built up stake in Nielsen, The Wall Street Journal reported last month.

For the quarter ended June 30, revenue was roughly flat from a year earlier at $1.65 billion. Revenue from the company's buy division fell 4.1%, while revenue at Nielsen's watch division -- which does analytics related to media audiences -- rose 4.5%. Profit fell 45% to $72 million, or 20 cents per share.

Write to Tatyana Shumsky at tatyana.shumsky@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

September 05, 2018 07:45 ET (11:45 GMT)

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