EU approves takeover of Reuters

The takeover of Reuters news agency by Thomson Corporation of Canada was approved by the European Commission this afternoon – with conditions attached.

Brussels ruled that the link-up between the two major global providers of financial and business information did not amount to an illegal monopoly, thanks to pledges made by both sides which have answered the Commission’s concerns about the risk to fair competition, according to EU Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes.

She went on: “The merging parties have offered a remedies package that provides strong safeguards that users of financial data will not be harmed by this major consolidation.”

The Commission launched a full inquiry last October, warning that the merger risked a “substantial” breach of fair competition in the financial information sector.

Since then Reuters and Thomson have agreed to adjust their joint financial services content to ensure that potential rivals in the sector can “quickly establish themselves as a credible competitive force” with the newly-merged group, as they could when the two were separate entities.

The aim, explained a Commission statement, is to ensure that customers in the market for financial information products would continue to have sufficient alternatives to the merged Reuters-Thomson supplier.

“The parties submitted commitments which have removed the Commission’s competition concerns and are suitable to restore effective competition in the Single Market” said the statement.

Today’s announcement coincided with a similar decision by the US Department of Justice, which has also been examining the proposed merger.