The “private equity firm” of the U.S., Blackstone Group is carrying out advance talks on buying arounf 55% of stake in “Financial and Risk business” of Thomson Reuters Corp. The said deal would put a value on the unit of around “$20 billion”, taking debts also into consideration.
As per sources, the board of Thomson Reuter were to meet for discussing “Blackstone’s offer for the F&R business”, the latter provides data, analytics and news support to banks as well as “investment houses” all over the world. In fact, the said unit makes up of over 50% of “Thomson Reuters’ annual revenues”.
The proposed deal states that “Thomson Reuters would retain a 45 percent stake in the F&R business as part of a partnership with the U.S. buyout firm”, reported sources to Reuters. The structure of the deal would incorporate Thomson Reuters to receive over “$17 billion” as payment, for the unit which along with “equity and debt” could be valued at around “$20 billion”.
A statement issued from Thomson Reuters, late on Monday 29 January 2018, stated that:
“it is in advanced discussions with Blackstone regarding a potential partnership in its F&R business.”
However, no further details were provided by the company and a spokesperson of Blackstone refrained from commenting. While, the sources also added that since the deal was not finalised there could also be a possibility of it falling apart. Due to the confidentiality of the matter at hand, the sources chose to remain unidentified.
On one hand, the Thomson Reuters’ shares listed by New York went up by “8.5 percent”, reaching “their highest level since October”, while on the other hand, Blackstone’s plunged down by 1,9%.
Furthermore Reuters added:
“If the board agrees to a deal with Blackstone, it would represent the biggest shake-up of Thomson Reuters since it was formed a decade ago by Thomson Corp’s acquisition of Reuters Group. Canada’s Thomson bought London-based Reuters for 8.7 billion pounds in 2008, worth $17 billion at the exchange rate at the time”.
In the words of the chief executive officer of Thomson Reuters, Jim Smith:
“The progress we have made turning around the F&R business and its future potential are reflected by Blackstone’s interest. We believe F&R is well positioned within Thomson Reuters, but it could be even stronger with a partner like Blackstone.”
References:
reuters.com
As per sources, the board of Thomson Reuter were to meet for discussing “Blackstone’s offer for the F&R business”, the latter provides data, analytics and news support to banks as well as “investment houses” all over the world. In fact, the said unit makes up of over 50% of “Thomson Reuters’ annual revenues”.
The proposed deal states that “Thomson Reuters would retain a 45 percent stake in the F&R business as part of a partnership with the U.S. buyout firm”, reported sources to Reuters. The structure of the deal would incorporate Thomson Reuters to receive over “$17 billion” as payment, for the unit which along with “equity and debt” could be valued at around “$20 billion”.
A statement issued from Thomson Reuters, late on Monday 29 January 2018, stated that:
“it is in advanced discussions with Blackstone regarding a potential partnership in its F&R business.”
However, no further details were provided by the company and a spokesperson of Blackstone refrained from commenting. While, the sources also added that since the deal was not finalised there could also be a possibility of it falling apart. Due to the confidentiality of the matter at hand, the sources chose to remain unidentified.
On one hand, the Thomson Reuters’ shares listed by New York went up by “8.5 percent”, reaching “their highest level since October”, while on the other hand, Blackstone’s plunged down by 1,9%.
Furthermore Reuters added:
“If the board agrees to a deal with Blackstone, it would represent the biggest shake-up of Thomson Reuters since it was formed a decade ago by Thomson Corp’s acquisition of Reuters Group. Canada’s Thomson bought London-based Reuters for 8.7 billion pounds in 2008, worth $17 billion at the exchange rate at the time”.
In the words of the chief executive officer of Thomson Reuters, Jim Smith:
“The progress we have made turning around the F&R business and its future potential are reflected by Blackstone’s interest. We believe F&R is well positioned within Thomson Reuters, but it could be even stronger with a partner like Blackstone.”
References:
reuters.com
