Dutchman Rob van den Bergh, former CEO of publisher VNU, is to return to the company he was forced to leave in 2005 as non-executive chairman. The announcement was made by British investment company 3i which completed its €8 bn takeover of VNU Business Media Europe yesterday.

Van den Bergh told the Financieele Dagblad that the appointment to the company’s single-tier board was part of his deal for advising 3i on the takeover. Van den Bergh started his career at the Dutch publisher (Dutch titles include Intermediair, Computable, Management Team) 25 years ago.