Thomson Reuters set to acquire Breakingviews.com

Iain Dey of The Times of London reports that Thomson Reuters is about to announce its acquisition of Breakingviews.com from founder Hugo Dixon for 10 million pounds, or about $16.2 million.

Dey writes, “”Mr Dixon, who ran the Lex column in the Financial Times for five years, has been in talks with Thomson Reuters since July. The £10 million price tag was agreed in recent days, according to sources inside Thomson Reuters, which has been seeking to expand the commentary and analysis available on its global news network for more than a year.

“The media company has recruited a number of commentators, including Jonathan Ford, who co-founded Breakingviews with Mr Dixon in 1999. Mr Ford no longer has any shares in the business, having left in 2007.

“The Breakingviews operation is likely to be left as a separate entity, with its own branding.

“The business has about 15,000 direct subscribers. Columns in a string of newspapers, including The New York Times, Le Monde, El Pais and Handelsblatt, have increased its readership to an estimated 4.5 million. It is profitable in Europe but continues to invest heavily in America and Asia.”

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