Thomson Reuters Signs Agreement for Strategic Partnership with Blackstone

Thomson Reuters announced that it has signed an agreement to enter into a strategic partnership with Blackstone. As part of the transaction, Thomson Reuters will sell a 55% majority stake in its F&R business to private equity funds managed by Blackstone. The transaction values the F&R business at approximately $20 billion. Thomson Reuters will receive approximately $17 billion in gross proceeds at closing (subject to purchase price adjustments) funded by $14 billion of debt and preferred equity to be incurred by the partnership and a $3 billion cash equity contribution by Blackstone. Thomson Reuters will retain a 45% interest in the F&R business. Thomson Reuters will also maintain full ownership of its Legal, Tax & Accounting arm and the Reuters News businesses. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) and GIC will invest, alongside Blackstone, in the transaction. The F&R business provides a broad range of offerings to financial market professionals. Its global content sets include fundamentals, estimates, and primary/secondary research. F&R also provides customers with tools, platforms, venues and services to enable fast, intelligent decision-making. The businesses that will comprise the new F&R partnership had 2017 revenues of approximately $6 billion. The new partnership will be managed by a 10-person board composed of five representatives from Blackstone and four from Thomson Reuters. The President and CEO of the new partnership will serve as a non-voting member of the board following the closing of the transaction.