Reuters sells stake in Factiva to Dow Jones for $160m

by Jennifer Whitehead, Brand Republic 18-Oct-06, 08:30

LONDON - Reuters is selling its 50% stake in business information company Factiva to its joint-venture partner Dow Jones in a $160m (£85m) deal.

Dow Jones will pay $153m in cash and $7m in Factiva shares for the company, which supplies archive news and business information.

Factiva was founded by the two companies in 1999. Under terms of the deal, Factiva will become a subsidiary of Dow Jones and Reuters will continue to supply its news as a paid supplier.

Tom Glocer, chief executive of Reuters, said: "Dow Jones has been a very good partner and together we have built a valuable asset in Factiva. We view this transaction as the natural conclusion to this successful joint venture."

Reuters also released its third-quarter results today, showing an increase in revenues of 3.3% to £631m compared to the same period last year.

However, its share price was down by 2% as it warned that it expected revenues from software sales to be weaker in the fourth quarter. Shares were trading at 430p this morning, a fall of 9.7p.

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