Regulators clear Thomson's takeover of Reuters

The European Commission has given conditional approval to Thomson Corp. to acquire Reuters, according to a Reuters story.

The story stated, “The EU executive said the deal as proposed had raised concerns about so-called ‘aftermarket broker research reports’, which provide data such as financial statements, financial ratios and earnings per share.

“It said the deal ‘would have eliminated rivalry between the two main suppliers of such databases in the marketplace, both at the worldwide and EEA (European Economic Area) level, leaving financial institutions and customers of such products with a reduced choice.’

“The Commission said Thomson and Reuters had agreed to divest databases with financial information products, and the associated assets, employees and customer base in order to promote competition.

“It said that sell-off would allow purchasers to ‘quickly establish themselves as a credible competitive force in the marketplace in competition with the merged entity.'”

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