EU approves proposed NIQ and GfK merger

The European Commission has approved the proposed combination of the companies, first announced in the summer of 2022.

The clearance decision is conditional on the divestment of GfK’s Consumer Panel business to an independent third party, but the condition will not delay the completion of the merger, GfK said in a press release. 

“The two companies will now take the necessary steps to enable the transaction to close without further delay,” the businesses said.

The deal will merge NIQ and GfK to become a provider of retail and consumer measurement data, and would bring together NIQ’s cloud-based Connect platform and omnichannel measurement technologies and GfK’s Gfknewron analytics platform.

NIQ was formerly the ‘Buy’ business of Nielsen, Nielsen Global Connect, and was sold in 2021.

The financial terms have not been disclosed.