Transformation cuts Thomson’s risk

Article Excerpt

THOMSON REUTERS CORP. $68 (Toronto symbol TRI; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 504.9 million; Market cap: $34.3 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 3.0; Dividend yield: 2.8%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.thomsonreuters.com) recently sold 55% of its Financial & Risk (F&R) business to a consortium led by Blackstone Group LP (New York symbol BX). F&R sells specialized financial information products to banks and brokerages. In exchange, Thomson received $17 billion—$3 billion in cash and $14 billion in notes and preferred shares (all amounts except share price and market cap in U.S. dollars). The company used $6.5 billion of that to repurchase 138.0 million shares at $47.00 U.S. each. Shareholders also received a return-of-capital distribution of $4.45 U.S. a share. That totalled $2.5 billion U.S. Thomson now focuses on selling specialized information to professionals in the legal, and tax and accounting fields. It also owns the Reuters news service. The company now has over 460,000 customers and annual revenue of $5.3 billion U.S. It aims to expand its…