US, Canadian-British firms dominate financial news market
NEW YORK (AFP) — Financial information services, the subject of WTO trade complaints against China by the US and European Union, are dominated by US firm Bloomberg and Canadian-British Thomson-Reuters in the process of merging.
The two heavyweights, each with a third share of the global market, are trailed at a distance by three US companies and one Swiss firm, according to Inside Market Data, which reports on the global financial market data sector.
US-based Interactive Data, owned by British group Pearson, is the closest runner-up, with a five percent market share.
Dow Jones, bought last year by News Corporation, holds a three percent slice, as does US rival Factset. Switzerland-based Telekurs has a two percent share.
All these agencies provide financial information and services to finance professionals worldwide with the support of real-time data and electronic trading.
Many financial operators work with "Bloomberg screens" or "Thomson screens," or both.
The United States and the European Union filed complaints Monday with the World Trade Organization (WTO) against China, which restricts access to its booming financial market by foreign financial news providers and maintains the monopoly of its Xinhua news agency.
The global financial data market, excluding ratings, reached 12.5 billion dollars in 2006, according to Inside Market Data. It has grown for two decades, particularly between 2002 and 2007 as stock markets rallied.
That rapid growth led to a flurry of consolidations last year: Thomson's acquisition of Reuters, the number two and three providers, respectively; and the takeover of Dow Jones by News Corp. A number of small and medium-size companies have disappeared or been swallowed up in recent years.
-- Thomson-Reuters: The new combined entity -- Thomson's bought Reuters last year for nearly 13 billion dollars in a takeover expected to be completed on April 17 -- holds about a third of the global financial data market according to Reuters's current share of 23 percent and Thomson's 11 percent.
Calculated on the combined 2007 earnings of the two companies, the new data giant has about 12 billion dollars in annual sales and net profit of 1.6 billion dollars. It will employ nearly 49,000 workers and be listed on the Toronto and London stock exchanges.
-- Bloomberg: The New York-based financial data titan holds 33 percent of the market, according to Inside Market Data. It was founded in 1981 by businessman Michael Bloomberg, the current mayor of New York.
Bloomberg employs more than 10,000 workers in 126 offices around the world and provides financial information as well as tools and services for finance professionals.
-- Interactive Data: Founded in 1968, it was bought in 1995 by Pearson, the owner of the Financial Times newspaper, and merged with Financial Times Information.
-- Dow Jones: Bought by media magnate Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. last year, the Dow Jones agency is part of the group with assets that included the Wall Street Journal newspaper, the financial data base Factiva and data provider Datamonitor.
