YouGov agrees €280m loan facility to finance takeover

YouGov has agreed a new loan deal to help finance a proposed acquisition aimed at boosting its European operations.

The polling firm, known for its close ties to British politics, said it had agreed a facility of up to €280 million (£243 million) with lenders.

It consists of a €240 million amortizing term loan and a €40 million revolving credit facility, with terms – the length of time until a loan matures – of four and three years respectively.

YouGov said the capital would go towards funding “general corporate purposes” that support its long-term strategy and the purchase of market research firm GfK’s consumer panel.

Alex McIntosh, Chief Finance Officer of the London-based group, said: ‘This new facility will provide additional financing for our proposed acquisition of GfK’s Consumer Panel Business and provide further firepower for investment in our strategic growth plan.

“We thank our lenders for their continued support.”

In July the company announced it would buy the business for a nominal price of £270m, partly to expand its presence in Europe’s fast-evolving consumer goods sector.

Stephan Shakespeare, co-founder of YouGov, said at the time that the transaction was “strategically important for us, further expanding our offering into the under-penetrated FMCG sector, bringing long-term relationships with a blue-chip customer base. ‘.

A few weeks later, Shakespeare stepped down as CEO, 23 years after founding YouGov with former Conservative Party chairman Nadhim Zahawi.

His replacement as CEO is Steve Hatch, who was vice president of northern Europe operations for Facebook’s parent company Meta, and a non-executive director at Daily Mirror owner Reach.

Before that, he worked for fifteen years at advertising giant WPP, where he headed the media agency MEC, now known as Wavemaker.

Hatch’s elevation to the role comes amid speculation that YouGov is considering a Wall Street listing.

Shakespeare told the Financial Times this in mid-August that the US was a “natural base” for YouGov as the country spent the most on marketing data and had markets that are “better at supporting companies like ours.”

London’s status as a leading financial center has been shaken by a series of companies deciding to go public or have their main listing in New York.

Plumbing supplier Ferguson, drug manufacturer Okyo Pharma and building materials supplier CRH are among the companies that have recently made the transatlantic move.

Cambridge-based ARM Holdings also went public on the Nasdaq last month after its majority shareholder, Softbank, decided against a London listing despite significant lobbying from the British government.

YouGov shares were 0.8 per cent, or 6p, higher at £7.56 on Monday afternoon, but are still down by around a quarter this year.