After KKR and the buyout kings bought Nielsen’s, they launched a “restructuring” plan to reduce costs by 10%.  The plan included layoffs of 4,000 of their 41,000 employees, but without information of where the layoffs would take place. ^[1] As part of acquisition, the company’s US defined benefit plan accruals were frozen. ^[2]

^[1] “VNU cuts 4,000 employees after buyout.” Marketing News, January 15, 2007; Edgecliffe-Johnson, Andrew, “VNU to shed 4,000 jobs in restructuring.” Financial Times, December 19, 2006.

^[2] The Nielsen Company Annual Report for the Successor period from May 24 to December 31, 2006, the Predecessor period from January 1 to May 23, 2006, and the years ended 2005 and 2004.