Categories: OLD Media Moves

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.'”

Read more here.

Chris Roush

Chris Roush was the dean of the School of Communications at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut. He was previously Walter E. Hussman Sr. Distinguished Professor in business journalism at UNC-Chapel Hill. He is a former business journalist for Bloomberg News, Businessweek, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Tampa Tribune and the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. He is the author of the leading business reporting textbook "Show me the Money: Writing Business and Economics Stories for Mass Communication" and "Thinking Things Over," a biography of former Wall Street Journal editor Vermont Royster.