Pollster Lands Private Equity
Only political junkies care about the polling business right now, but since I'm touched by that particular affliction... Rasmussen Reports, one of the nation's best-known polling outfits, today announced that it has raised an undisclosed amount of private equity funding from Noson Lawen Partners. The deal closed on Monday, and seems to technically be for a control position, although Noson Lawsen partner Ted Carroll took pains to say that existing management would remain firmly in charge. "We have very defined roles, and I've got no interest in interfering with polling methadology or anything like that," explains Carroll, a longtime media investor who once was the lead finance producer for The MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour. "I was working on the program when AT&T wrote a $10 million check and became our sole sponsor, so realize that once big brands recognize credibility in an information source, they covet it. I sense Scott
