


Press Release

Date         February 15, 2001

          VNU COMPLETES TENDER OFFER FOR ACNIELSEN CORPORATION

          Haarlem, The Netherlands - VNU N.V., a leading media and information
          company, announced today that its indirect wholly-owned subsidiary,
          Artist Acquisition, Inc., has completed its cash tender offer for all
          of the outstanding shares of common stock of ACNielsen Corporation at
          USD 36.75 per share net to the seller in cash. The tender offer
          expired, as scheduled, at 12:00 midnight, New York City time, on
          February 14, 2001. All shares validly tendered and not properly
          withdrawn prior to the expiration of the tender offer have been
          accepted for payment. Based on a preliminary count, 56,948,651 shares
          of common stock of ACNielsen, or 96% of the 59,240,209 total issued
          and outstanding ACNielsen shares, were tendered pursuant to the tender
          offer and not withdrawn (including shares tendered through notice of
          guaranteed delivery).

          Pursuant to the terms and conditions of the Merger Agreement entered
          into in connection with the tender offer, VNU plans to merge Artist
          Acquisition, Inc. with and into ACNielsen by the close of business on
          Friday, February 16, 2001 or as soon as practicable thereafter.
          ACNielsen common stock not previously purchased in the tender offer
          will be converted into the right to receive USD 36.75 per share in
          cash. The proposed merger is not subject to the approval of the
          remaining shareholders of ACNielsen. Once the merger becomes
          effective, ACNielsen will be an indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of
          VNU N.V.

            Contact:   Rob de Meel           telephone +31 23 546 36 48
            website:   news.vnu.com
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          VNU is one of the world's leading media and information companies and
          has leading market positions in marketing & media information,
          business information, directories, consumer information, as well as
          educational information. Worldwide, VNU employs approximately 16,000
          people and has annual revenues of more than EUR 2.8 billion (1999).

          The foregoing announcement is qualified in its entirety by reference
          to Artist Acquisition, Inc.'s Tender Offer Statement on Schedule TO,
          including the Offer to Purchase dated December 22, 2000, and the
          related letter of transmittal, which can be obtained for free, along
          with other filed documents, at the SEC's website www.sec.gov.

