Thomson Corp. on has won European regulatory approval to buy news and information provider Reuters Group PLC but must sell off financial databases to eliminate antitrust concerns, the European Commission said.
EU antitrust regulators said the two companies had also agreed with the U.S. Department of Justice to divest units that supply financial market research reports, earnings estimates, fundamental financial data of enterprises and time series of economic data to remove worries that the deal would end rivalry in the sector.
The EU said its investigation showed this was necessary to make sure financial institutions and customers of these products were not faced with “a reduced choice, the likelihood of price increases and a severe risk of discontinuation of overlapping products.”
