Discontinued Operations

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2014

Discontinued Operations And Disposal Groups [Abstract]

Discontinued Operations

4. Discontinued Operations

In February 2014, Nielsen completed the acquisition of Harris Interactive, Inc., a leading global market research firm, through the purchase of all outstanding shares of Harris Interactive’s common stock for $2.04 per share. In June 2014, the Company completed the sale of Harris Interactive European operations (“Harris Europe”) to ITWP Acquisitions Limited (“ITWP”), the parent company of Toluna, a leading digital market research and technology company in exchange for a minority stake in ITWP. The condensed consolidated statements of operations reflect the operating results of Harris Europe as a discontinued operation.

In June 2013, the Company completed the sale of its Expositions business, which operates one of the largest portfolios of business-to-business trade shows and conference events in the United States, for total cash consideration of $950 million and recorded a gain of $303 million, net of tax.  The condensed consolidated statements of operations reflect the operating results of this business as a discontinued operation.

In March 2013, Nielsen completed the exit and shut down of one of its legacy online businesses and recorded a net loss of $3 million associated with this divestiture. The condensed consolidated statements of operations reflect the operating results of this business as a discontinued operation.

Summarized results of operations for discontinued operations are as follows:

	Three Months Ended September 30,				Nine Months Ended September 30,
(IN MILLIONS)	2014		2013		2014		2013
Revenue	$	—	$	—	$	15	$	103
Operating income	—		—		—			35
Interest expense	—		—		—			(8	)
Income from operations before income taxes	—		—		—			27
Provision for income taxes	—		—		—			(11	)
Income from operations	—		—		—			16
Gain on sale, net of tax	—		—		—			303
Income from discontinued operations	$	—	$	—	$	—	$	319

Nielsen allocated a portion of its consolidated interest expense to discontinued operations based upon the ratio of net assets sold as a proportion of consolidated net assets. For the three and nine months ended September 30, 2013, interest expense of zero and $8 million was allocated to discontinued operations.

Following are the major categories of cash flows from discontinued operations, as included in Nielsen’s condensed consolidated statements of cash flows:

	Nine Months Ended September 30,
(IN MILLIONS)	2014		2013
Net cash provided by operating activities	$	—	$	36
Net cash provided by investing activities	—		—
Net cash provided by financing activities	—		—
	$	—	$	36