By Mark Herlihy
May 15 (Bloomberg) -- Thomson Corp., owner of the Westlaw Legal database and TradeWeb bond-trading network, agreed to buy Reuters Group Plc, the dominant service for currency trading, for about 8.7 billion pounds ($17.2 billion).
Shareholders of Reuters will receive 352.5 pence in cash and 0.16 Thomson share for each Reuters share, the companies said today in a Regulatory News Service statement. The terms are the same as the figures announced May 8, when the companies outlined the transaction.
The purchase of 156-year-old Reuters would make Thomson the biggest provider of financial information, according to figures compiled by Inside Market Data. The deal has been approved by the independent board at Reuters that's charged with safeguarding the news organization's editorial integrity, the companies said.
``The boards of Thomson and Reuters believe there is a natural fit and compelling logic in creating a global leader in electronic information services, trading systems and news,'' the companies said in the statement.
The offer is valued at 691.5 pence for each Reuters share, based on yesterday's closing price for Thomson on the Toronto Stock Exchange, the companies said. That's 40 percent more than May 3, the day before Reuters said it was in takeover talks.
Shares of Reuters fell 7.5 pence, or 1.2 percent, to 605.25 pence yesterday. The stock has gained 36 percent this year.
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