The $17.2 billion deal was finalized after clearing up concerns that Thomson might impinge upon Reuters' editorial independence. There remain some regulatory investigations to be completed but Reuters Chairman, Niall Fitzgerald, was quoted by Reuters believing that the deal would pass through the authorities.

In related news, Rupert Murdoch has written a letter to the shareholders of the Dow Jones Co declaring that if he were to take over the company, the Wall Street Journal would maintain it's independence. Bloomberg reported that this just might be the advice that tips the scales. The Bancroft family, holding the majority of voting shares in the company, denied that they would sell their company. But with such a generous $5 billion offer from Murdoch and mounting pressures from other shareholders to sell, the Bancroft's might have to give in.  

In the wake of the announcement of possible deals, CNN Money wrote that it's "The return of media merger madness." 372 deals in traditional media have already occurred in 2007, 81 of those being in the United States, and many more are surely on the way as traditional media try to adapt to the digital age. Private equity firms will also be more present in the hailstorm of media mergers and acquisitions, thus raising prices, according to CNN. 

Tolman Geffs, manager of a merger and acquisition firm Jordan Edmiston Group, was quoted by CNN as saying there is "an ocean of dollars moving from non-digital to digital," implying that there old media is no longer old media, but "diversified media." 

Sources: Reuters, Bloomberg, CNN Money, PaidContent