Sums it up: American Nielsen decided to sell business in Russia
The largest independent player in the consumer analytics market intends to sell its Russian subsidiary, Izvestia has learned. American Nielsen has been operating in the country since 1994, studying the mood of customers in the segment of consumer goods, as well as providing statistics for participants in this market. By the end of 2025, the company increased its profit in the Russian Federation almost fourfold, to 1.5 billion rubles. However, in the context of stricter legislative regulation of customer data collection and increasing sanctions pressure, the corporation decided to leave the local market. Izvestia figured out how this would affect retail and who might be interested in this business.
How the American company entered the Russian market
The fact that the global Nielsen research group is negotiating the sale of its division in Russia was told to Izvestia by its partner, who is aware of these plans, a consultant familiar with the proposal, and also confirmed by a source close to the Russian subsidiary. The company, according to two interlocutors, is already in the negotiation process with a potential interested party, whose name is not specified. She has long considered the possibility of selling the Russian asset, said an interlocutor at a large investment bank. The parent company and its Russian representative office did not respond to requests from Izvestia.
Nielsen is one of the largest technology companies that provides data on the retail market and consumer behavior in the consumer goods segment (FMCG). In 2021, Nielsen Holdings sold its Global Connect division (specializing in marketing research) to Advent International investment company for $2.7 billion. After the deal was completed, it was renamed NielsenIQ with the right to use the Nielsen brand for 20 years.
The company opened its first office in Russia in 1994. By 2000, she had built an infrastructure for collecting retail sales data in the course of developing partnerships with major retail chains — X5 Retail Group, Magnit, Lenta, Dixie, Metro, and others. Its key asset is panel data on consumer preferences, which is used by the largest retailers and manufacturers for pricing, assortment policy and marketing. Since 2017, she has also been tracking sales of consumer goods in online stores. In 2019, Nielsen localized its business in Russia, creating a separate legal entity, LLC Nielsen Data Factory. By the end of 2025, its revenue under RAS amounted to 3 billion rubles, which is twice as much as a year earlier, and net profit for the same period increased almost fourfold, to 1.5 billion rubles. Its parent company, A. C. Nielsen LLC, had revenue reduced by 31% to 2.3 billion rubles, with a net loss of 124 million rubles against a profit of 1 billion rubles in 2024, according to RAS.
Why is the consumer analytics giant going out of business in Russia
Ekaterina Kosareva, managing partner of the VMT Consult agency, highlights primarily regulatory reasons for the sale of the business, which are associated with a high risk of violating American law. In 2025, the company, according to her, began collecting data on new regions of the Russian Federation. Additional pressure on the industry giant in the local market was exerted by the law on work restrictions for foreign organizations, added Yulia Zagornova, partner of B1, head of the mergers and acquisitions services group.
In the summer of 2023, a group of deputies from United Russia introduced a bill on restrictions on foreign ownership in structures that analyze the consumer goods market. The initiative was directed against Ipsos, GfK and others, who allegedly use the collected data on Russian consumers to "adjust sanctions against Russia," said then co-author of the amendments, MP Anton Gorelkin.
The State Duma adopted the document in the first reading in January 2024. Later, the deputy's proposals were supported by the Cabinet of Ministers, Izvestia wrote. According to amendments to federal law No. 351, from March 1, 2026, it is prohibited to order research on commodity markets from companies with a foreign participation of more than 20% and annual revenue of more than 800 million rubles. The requirements for data processing at facilities in the Russian Federation and the inclusion of Russian research companies in the profile register are also being introduced. For Nielsen, this de facto means that it is impossible to continue working in Russia in the current structure, Yulia Zagornova noted.
Complicating the work of independent analytical groups is the fact that FMCG retailers themselves are increasingly using their own data (first-party data) to study consumer activity, said a top manager of a large retail chain. For example, X5 (Pyaterochka, Perekrestok, Chizhik) has launched the Dialog X5 digital platform, where it develops analytical, logistics and marketing services. In late April, Magnit, together with Retail Services, created an AI assistant for analyzing supplier data based on the RS.Magnit portal. A similar resource was also launched by Lenta in 2025 — RS.Lenta.
Various industry players may be potential business interests, says Mikhail Burmistrov, CEO of Infoline Analytics. For example, Ekaterina Kosareva listed domestic analytical agencies and companies in the field of BigData, as well as large federal retailers. According to her, the latest purchase of this business will significantly increase expertise in the entire consumer goods market.
In January – March 2026, the nominal retail trade turnover amounted to 9.6 trillion rubles, according to CMWP data. According to analysts, this is 5% more than in the same period in 2025, but 0.5% lower when adjusted for inflation.
The consumer goods analytics market is interesting due to the fact that the FMCG segment in Russia remains large, competitive and price-sensitive, Yulia Zagornova "B1" noted. It will continue to grow in the coming years due to increased competition using big data tools, Ekaterina Kosareva believes. This will also be facilitated by the acceleration of retail digitalization. An additional driver may be the growth of online sales and marketplaces, Yulia Zagornova added. Therefore, according to her, the manufacturer needs a more comprehensive review of various sales channels.
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