Introducing Thomson-Reuters Professional

We’ve been waiting in anticipation to see what will happen. Today Reuters and Thomson have confirmed they will be joining forces to create one of the largest financial news publishers in the world, surpassing Bloomberg.

I was going to quote from a news story on CNN, but it says that it may not be “re-written or rebroadcast” so I expect blogging is out of bounds. So,they lose out on a link.

Instead let me quote from Reuters Canada which has almost identical wording (how is THAT fair?). From Thomson agrees to buy Reuters for $17.2 billion:

Thomson-Reuters will have revenues of about $12 billion and almost 49,000 employees. With 34 percent of the financial information market, it will overtake Bloomberg LP, which has 33 percent, according to industry newsletter Inside Market Data.

…

The Thomson family’s Woodbridge vehicle will own 53 percent of the new dual-listed Thomson-Reuters group and support the Reuters Trust Principles of integrity, independence and freedom from bias.

Woodbridge will be granted an exemption to the 15 percent shareholding limit set by the Reuters Trust Principles as long as it remains controlled by the Thomson family, the companies said.

Thomson and Reuters news and financial businesses will be called Reuters. Other existing Thomson businesses will be known as Thomson-Reuters Professional.

Reuters Group Chief Executive Tom Glocer will become CEO of Thomson-Reuters, Reuters Chief Operating Officer Devin Wenig will become CEO of the new Reuters while Thomson COO Jim Smith will be CEO of Thomson-Reuters Professional.

Thomson Chief Financial Officer Bob Daleo will be CFO of Thomson-Reuters.

For more detail, see the official announcement on the Thomson Corporation website which is a 37 page PDF file. It says:

Thomson-Reuters Corporation and Thomson-Reuters PLC will be separate legal entities but will be managed and operated as if they were a single economic enterprise. The companies’ economic interests will be aligned and they will pursue common objectives. The boards of Thomson-Reuters Corporation and Thomson-Reuters PLC will be identical and the Combined Business will be managed by a single senior executive management team.

I like Reuter’s disclosure disclaimer and will emulate it: writers of this blog post may own shares in or do business with Thomson and/or Reuters and its subdivisions.