WPP Group and Aegis lost out in the bidding war in the second round, while Taylor Nelson Sofres, Ipsos and VNU still were still in the running to take up the business this week.
Outgoing United chief executive Lord Clive Hollick put NOP World up for sale in January with a plan to sell it off before he stepped down in May. Symbian's David Levin replaces Lord Hollick at United.
On completion of the deal, United intends to return £300m of the proceeds to its shareholders.
Levin said: "I am delighted with the achievement of this excellent result, both for UBM shareholders, enabling us to make a substantial capital return, and for NOP employees, who will have significant opportunities as part of a larger market research group."
Completion of the disposal is expected to take place at the end of May.
The acquisition of NOP World will expand GfK's operations in the UK and the US significantly, and strengthen its business in important sectors like media, healthcare and automotive, making it one of the largest market research companies in the world.
NOP World includes the market research firms NOP Research Group, Strategic Marketing Corporation, Mediamark Research Inc, Roper/ASW, Market Measures/Cozint and Allison Fisher.
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