NASDAQ OMX has dramatically increased the range and scope of its corporate services business after announcing an agreement to acquire the IR, PR and webcasting units of Thomson Reuters.
The move will see the global exchange group take control of businesses with more than 7,000 clients worldwide, more than double the 3,000 existing customers of NASDAQ’s corporate solutions business.
‘We’ll have over 10,000 clients and a very large international footprint,’ Bruce Aust, executive vice president, corporate client group, at NASDAQ OMX, tells IR Magazine.
The terms of the deal will see the three business units change ownership for $390 mn in cash, with the acquisition expected to close in the first half of 2013.
The IR products changing hands include the Thomson ONE IR desktop and mobile solution, along with market intelligence and website hosting services. NASDAQ OMX clients will also get access to Thomson data, including First Call and StreetEvents, on an exclusive basis.
Aust says the two companies have many complementary services, but there will also be opportunities for synergies across product offerings, technology and locations.
‘Our goal will be to make sure we are building the best of breed investor relations/corporate communications business and we look forward to understanding what that looks like, but it’s early days right now,’ he says.
The exchange group, which operates stock markets in the US and the Nordic region, has been focused on building out its corporate solutions business, in part to compensate for the slowdown in the global IPO market.
Over the last year, NASDAQ OMX bought Glide Technologies, a London-based provider of newsrooms and media monitoring tools, and BWise, which sells risk management solutions.
As well as boosting NASDAQ OMX’s product offering, the Thomson Reuters deal will also help the group expand its international footprint.
‘This does give us great opportunities in other countries where we haven’t had a large presence, like France or Germany,’ says Aust. ‘Thomson Reuters has an Asian presence, and we have a very small Asia presence in our current business, so it allows NASDAQ OMX corporate solutions to really become more of an international brand.’
Media reports have swirled in recent months about Thomson Reuters’ plans to offload its corporate services businesses. Several other units of Thomson Reuters have been put up for sale since the start of the year as the firm undertakes a major restructuring operation.
