Reuters Group
Company type | Public limited company |
---|---|
Industry | Mass media |
Founded | October 1851 |
Defunct | 17 April 2008 |
Fate | Acquired by the Thomson Corporation |
Successor | Thomson Reuters |
Headquarters | London, United Kingdom |
Divisions | Reuters |
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 turnover.[1]
History
Beginnings
In 1851, Reuter moved to London. After failures in 1847 and 1850, attempts by the Submarine Telegraph Company to lay an undersea telegraph cable across the English Channel, from Dover to Calais, promised success. Reuter set up his "Submarine Telegraph" office in October 1851 just before the opening of that undersea cable in November, and he negotiated a contract with the London Stock Exchange to provide stock prices from exchanges in continental Europe in return for access to the London prices, which he then supplied to stockbrokers in Paris. In 1865, Reuter's private firm was restructured, and it became a limited company (a corporation) called the Reuter's Telegram Company. Reuter had been naturalised as a British subject in 1857.[citation needed]
Reuter's agency built a reputation in Europe for being the first to report news
The last surviving member of the Reuters family founders, Marguerite, Baroness de Reuter, died at age 96 on 25 January 2009, after having suffered a series of strokes.[4]
Initial public offering (IPO)
Reuters was financed as a public company in 1984 on the
Further protecting Reuters from owner actions that might threaten its independence is Reuters Founders Share Company Limited, formed in 1984 as part of the share float. This company's stated mission is to protect the integrity of the company's news output. It holds one "Founders Share", which can veto all other shares if an attempt is made to alter any of the rules relating to the Reuters Trust Principles. These principles set out the company's aims of independence, integrity, and freedom from bias in its news reporting.[5] Subsequent to the forming of Thomson Reuters the trust principles continued, with the RFSC now holding a Founders Share in each of Thomson Reuters Corporation and Thomson Reuters PLC.[citation needed]
Post-IPO expansion
Reuters grew rapidly after its 1984
Acquisition by Thomson
On 15 May 2007, Canada's
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.[citation needed]
- 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).[11]
- 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.[citation needed]
- 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.[citation needed]
- ClearForest – In June 2007, Reuters acquired ClearForest,[12] 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.[citation needed]
- Factiva – In May 1999, Reuters entered a joint venture with rival Dow Jones & Company to form Factiva,[13] a business news and information provider. In December 2006, Reuters sold its 50% share in Factiva to Dow Jones, who is now sole owner.[14]
- Silver Lake Partners.[citation needed]
- Multex.com Inc. – In March 2003, Reuters acquired Multex.com, Inc., a provider of global financial information.[citation needed]
- StarMine Corporation—In January 2008, Reuters acquired StarMine Corporation, a provider of equity research tools and quantitative analytics.[15]
- 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.[citation needed]
Corporate locations
From 1939, corporate headquarters were in London's famous
The company's North American headquarters are located in Hoboken, New Jersey. and were previously located at the Reuters Building at 3 Times Square, New York. It is on Seventh Avenue between 42nd and 43rd Streets, and was constructed from 1998 to 2001.[16]
The Asian headquarters were located in
Notes
References
Citations
- ^ "Reuters – About Reuters – Investor Relations". Market Update & News Provided by Reuters.com. Archived from the original on 3 February 2003.
- ISBN 9789898575685.
- ^ "Tom Gross on Reuters". www.tomgrossmedia.com. Retrieved 21 February 2018.
- ^ "Baroness de Reuter, last link to news dynasty, dies". ABC News (Australia). Reuters. 26 January 2009. Retrieved 21 February 2009.
- ^ "The Trust Principles". thomsonreuters.com. Retrieved 25 January 2012.
- ^ What is an exchange?: the automation, management, and regulation of Financial Markets, Rueben Lee
- ^ "Thomson in Talks to Buy Reuters for $17.6 Billion". 8 May 2007. Retrieved 25 January 2012.
- ^ "Reuters agrees to Thomson buyout". 15 May 2007. Retrieved 25 January 2012.
- ^ Aussie guardian for agency's ethics | The Australian
- ^ "Thomson completes acquisition of Reuters". Thomson Reuters. Archived from the original on 19 August 2010. Retrieved 15 January 2014.
- ^ "Reuters to Acquire European Fund Research Specialist". news.taume.com. 29 June 2007. Archived from the original on 1 October 2011.
- ^ "Text Analytics Solutions from ClearForest". clearforest.com.
- ^ "Factiva, a Dow Jones & Reuters Company". factiva.com. Archived from the original on 25 July 2011.
- ^ "Dow Jones Completes Acquisition of Full-Ownership of Factiva". dowjones.com. 15 December 2006. Archived from the original on 3 January 2007.
- ^ "Reuters Buys StarMine • Integrity Research". Integrity Research. 22 August 2007. Retrieved 14 April 2022.
- ^ "The Reuters Building". Wirednewyork.com. Retrieved 3 October 2010.
Sources
- Read, Donald (1992). The Power of News: The History of Reuters 1849–1989. Oxford, England: ISBN 0-19-821776-5.
- Mooney, Brian; Simpson, Barry (2003). Breaking News: How the wheels came off at Reuters. Capstone. ISBN 1-84112-545-8.
External links
- Official website of Thomson Reuters