VNU:Number crunching

VNU’s investors have worried about being on the receiving end of a low-ball offer ever since they kicked out the chief executive and tinned his unpopular bid for IMS of the US. Now those fears seem to have been realised. A huge consortium - comprising almost everyone in the buyout business - has bid E28- 28.50 a share for the Dutch media group. That’s pretty much in line with where the stock closed on 13 January. At first glance the price looks stingy. After all, analysts predict that new manag...