The U.S. Department of Justice will require Thomson to sell financial data and other assets in three markets in order for the company to complete its US$17 billion acquisition of Reuters Group, the DOJ announced Tuesday.
The deal, as proposed, would cause higher prices for purchases of three types of financial data used by investment managers, investment bankers, traders and other customers, the DOJ said in a press release.
Thomson has grown by acquisition in recent years. Its Thomson Financial analyst poll for earnings forecasts, which heavily monitors technology vendors, is widely disseminated online.
Under a settlement proposed by the DOJ, Thomson and Reuters must sell copies of the data contained in Thomson's WorldScope fundamentals product; Reuters Estimate, an earnings-estimate product; and Reuters Aftermarket (Embargoed) Research Database, an analyst research-distribution product. The settlement requires Thomson to sell copies of the financial datasets within 60 days, as well as provide buys with access to training and support so that the buyers can offer a competitive product.
The DOJ's Antitrust Division must approve the buyer of each set of assets under the settlement. The DOJ's Antitrust Division filed a civil antitrust lawsuit Tuesday in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia as the first step toward reaching the settlement.
The DOJ decided that the deal would have eliminated competition between Thomson and Reuters and would have likely caused higher prices for fundamentals data, earnings-estimate data and aftermarket research reports. The DOJ called this data "vital" to users of financial data, and the two companies are among the few firms that supply the data.
The European Commission also announced the results of its antitrust investigation into the deal. The European Commission will require Thomson to sell off a fourth product, Reuters Economics (EcoWin), as a condition of the merger approval. The DOJ said it had no competitive concerns about the EcoWin product in the U.S.
Thomson announced its merger with Reuters in May. Reuters is based in London, and Thomson's headquarters are in Stamford, Connecticut.
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