Reuters to merge with Thomson, Glocer to remain CEO

Posted by John Burke on May 9, 2007 at 8:58 AM

After receiving a takeover bid last week, Reuters confirmed yesterday that it was to merge with one of the world's largest information company, Canada's Thomson Corporation. Present Reuters CEO, Tom Glocer, will reportedly hold the reins of the enlarged group which will be known as Thomson-Reuters.

The merged companies financial and media businesses will be grouped under the Reuters brand name. The £8.7 billion merger is expected to save £250 million per year over the next three years. Redundancies are expected.

Thomson's friendly takeover of Reuters comes after an unsolicited, hostile bid by Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation for Dow Jones, parent of the Wall Street Journal, a paper that Murdoch has reportedly coveted for a long time. The almost simultaneous bids are signs of a race for holdings that furnish financial information, a market predicted to grow even more lucrative in the coming years.

Sources: Brand Republic, The Guardian

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