NEW YORK and MEMPHIS, Tenn., June 26, 2017 — Today, Nielsen (NYSE: NLSN) and fred’s Inc. (NASDAQ: FRED) announced an expansion of their long-term relationship with the renewal of data insights and analytics services. With this agreement, Nielsen will become the exclusive account-level data provider for fred’s Pharmacy, covering metrics for all 601 fred’s stores in 15 states across the southeastern U.S., as well as future stores within the health and wellness marketplace.

For more than 15 years, Nielsen has been a loyal analytical partner to fred’s Pharmacy. As fred’s Pharmacycontinues to evolve its business into the drugstore space, concentrating on Health, Beauty and Personal Care focused services and value-driven retail stores, Nielsen will continue its commitment to assist fred’sin executing against its growth strategy. The new agreement includes expanded market measurement and consumer targeting services and provides a dedicated Nielsen support team.

“By selecting Nielsen as our exclusive partner in managing our shared data and analytical needs, fred’swill improve its consistency in data output and meet our increasing consumer and volumetric data needs, among other benefits,” said Mary Lou Gardner, fred’s Executive Vice President, Chief Merchandising and Marketing Officer. “We look forward to working with the Nielsen team as fred’s Pharmacy continues to implement a number of exciting initiatives to optimize our business.”

“We are excited to expand our longstanding relationship with fred’s,” said Rob Hill, Executive Vice President, Retail Services at Nielsen. “We believe that fred’s Pharmacy holds a unique and powerful position within the drugstore marketplace, one that merges its legacy of value with a growing equity in health-focused retail. Together, we will continue our work to further fred’s strategy through our industry- leading data and data-driven insights.”

About fred’s Pharmacy
Tracing its history back to an original store in Coldwater, Mississippi, opened in 1947, today fred’s Pharmacy is headquartered in Memphis, Tennessee, and operates 601 pharmacy and general merchandise stores and three specialty pharmacy-only locations, including 14 franchised fred’s Pharmacy locations. With a unique store format and strategy that combines the best elements of a healthcare-focused drug store with a value-focused retailer, fred’s Pharmacy stores offer more than 12,000 frequently purchased items that address the healthcare and everyday needs of its customers and patients. This includes nationally recognized brands, proprietary fred’s Pharmacy label products, and a full range of value-priced selections. The company has two distribution centers, one in Memphis, Tennessee, and Dublin, Georgia.

About Nielsen
Nielsen Holdings plc (NYSE: NLSN) is a global performance management company that provides a comprehensive understanding of what consumers watch and buy. Nielsen’s Watch segment provides media and advertising clients with Total Audience measurement services for all devices on which content—video, audio and text—is consumed. The Buy segment offers consumer packaged goods manufacturers and retailers the industry’s only global view of retail performance measurement. By integrating information from its Watch and Buy segments and other data sources, Nielsen also provides its clients with analytics that help improve performance. Nielsen, an S&P 500 company, has operations in more than 100 countries, covering more than 90 percent of the world’s population. For more information, visit www.nielsen.com.