Bain Capital has formally launched the sale of Kantar Media, a division of market research firm Kantar Group, according to three sources familiar with the matter.

Sellside advisers JP Morgan and Jefferies distributed information memoranda to prospective bidders at the beginning of last week (16 September), one of the sources said.

Lender education, which is being run by both sellside banks, is expected to take place next week, two of the sources said.

Bain Capital is expected to collect non-binding offers for Kantar Media in the week commencing 21 October, according to one of the sources.

The sponsor is expected to value Kantar Media at around GBP 1bn (USD 1.34bn), one of the sources added. The business is being marketed off USD 120m in EBITDA, as previously reported.

Vista Equity Partners are among the list of buyers that have been invited to participate in the auction, one of the sources said. CVC Capital Partners [AMS:CVC] and Cinven were also among the financial sponsors that had signalled early interest in the business, this news service reported in July.

Some financial sponsors have been put off from participating in the auction amid the asset’s relatively flat growth, according to a fourth source familiar.

Bain acquired a 60% stake in Kantar Group, the parent company of Kantar Media, in 2019, with advertising group WPP [LON:WPP] owning the remainder.

Kantar Media, which conducts broadcast audience measurement in over 60 countries, generated revenues of USD 353m in the nine months to September 2023, up 8% compared to the same period the year before, according to Kantar’s financial statements.

Representatives for Bain, Kantar, Cinven, Vista Equity Partners, JP Morgan and Jefferies declined to comment. CVC did not respond to requests for comment.