Financial Times reporter Aline van Duyn reports that Thomson Financial is planning a wire news service that would compete with Bloomberg News and Reuters.
Van Duyn wrote, “Thomson Financial, part of Thomson, the electronic publishing business, is building a global network on the back of AFX, the European news service it bought for an estimated $20m last year.
“Since then Thomson has invested heavily in editorial staff, and employs about 500 reporters, around double the number a year ago.
“Recent bureaus have opened in Lisbon, Vienna, Budapest and Warsaw, and more are planned.”‘We always felt that providing news was critical,’ said Sharon Rowlands, president and chief executive of Thomson Financial. She declined to disclose the size of the investment.
“‘Three or four years ago it would have cost us $250m and taken five years to develop. Developments in technology and the easy availability of information like corporate earnings releases have allowed us to do it for much less,’ she said in an interview with the FT.”
Read more here.
