Reuters Group

Reuters Group plc was a British multinational media and financial information company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It was acquired by the Thomson Corporation in 2008, forming Thomson Reuters, and moved its head office to Toronto.

Reuters Group was best known for the Reuters news agency, which was the original business of the company. By the time of its acquisition by Thomson, the bulk of Reuters Group's revenues came from the provision of financial market data, with news reporting comprising less than 10% of its revenue.[1]

History

Beginnings

Paul Reuter noticed that, with the electric telegraph, news no longer required days or weeks to travel long distances. In the 1850s, the 34-year-old Reuter was based in

Acquisitions and investments

Action Images – In September 2005, Reuters purchased North London-based Action Images, a collection of sports photography of more than 8 million images, of which 1.7 million are online.

Application Networks – In June 2006, Reuters acquired Application Networks, Inc., a provider of trade and risk management software based on JRisk, and agreed to acquire Feri Fund Market Information Ltd (FERI FMI) and its fund database subsidiary, FI Datenservice GmbH (FID).[12]

AVT Technologies – In December 2002, Reuters announced that it would acquire AVT Technologies, a specialist in foreign exchange transaction technology. Concurrent with the deal, Reuters established an Automated Dealing Technologies business unit, headed up by Mark Redwood, CEO of AVT Technologies.

Bridge Information Systems – On 28 September 2001, it completed the largest acquisition in its history with a partial acquisition of Bridge Information Systems Inc. Also during the year, the Group acquired 100% of Diagram fip SA and 92% of ProTrader Group LP. In October 2001, the Group disposed of its majority stake in VentureOne Corp.

ClearForest – In June 2007, Reuters acquired ClearForest,[13] a provider of text analytics, whose tagging platform and analytical products allow clients to derive business information from textual content.

EcoWin – In November 2005, Reuters acquired EcoWin, a Gothenburg (Sweden)–based provider of global financial, equities, and economic data.

Factiva – In May 1999, Reuters entered a joint venture with rival Dow Jones & Company to form Factiva,[14] a business news and information provider. In December 2006, Reuters sold its 50% share in Factiva to Dow Jones, who is now sole owner.[15]

Instinet – After taking a minority stake in Instinet in 1985, Reuters acquired the entire company in 1987. In May 2001, Reuters sold a minority stake in the firm via an IPO on NASDAQ, and in December 2005 sold the remainder of its share to NASDAQ and Silver Lake Partners.

Multex.com Inc. – In March 2003, Reuters acquired Multex.com, Inc., a provider of global financial information.

StarMine Corporation—In January 2008, Reuters acquired StarMine Corporation, a provider of equity research tools and quantitative analytics.[16]

TIBCO Software – In July 1999, TIBCO Software completed an IPO on NASDAQ; Reuters retains a substantial proportion of the shares. Reuters announced, in early 2000, initiatives designed to migrate core business to an internet-based model.

type	Public
traded as	LSE: RT Nasdaq: RT FTSE 100 component (until 2008)
fate	Acquired by the Thomson Corporation
successor	Thomson Reuters
defunct	April 17, 2008
location	London, United Kingdom
industry	Mass media
divisions	Reuters

History

Beginnings

Initial public offering (IPO)

Post-IPO expansion

Acquisition by Thomson

Acquisitions and investments

Corporate locations

External links

References