Private investment firm HIG Capital has taken a major stake in Dutch B2B publisher VNU Media, alongside majority shareholder, PE firm 3i. Reuters.com reports that the deal comes as part of a restructuring of VNU, the parent of Nielsen Media Research. VNU took on €200 million (£170 million, $288 million) in debt when 3i bought out the company—then called VNU Business Media Europe—for €300 million (£255.4 million, $432 million)) in 2006. 3i and HIG now own equal stakes and have underwritten a €17.2 million (£14.6 million, $24.7 million) equity investment in the business and have secured a “significant reduction” in its debt. Reports in January suggested that frustrated creditors could stage a takeover of VNU. 3i wrote down the value of its VNU investment again in June after earlier valuing it at €71 million (£60.4 million, $103 million).

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