Bloomberg denies $10bn sale to Thomson

Gordon MacMillan, brandrepublic.com, Monday, 12 November 2001, 10:11am,

LONDON - Bloomberg, the financial media business, has denied it is for sale following reports that Canadian media giant Thomson was preparing a $10bn (£6.9bn) bid following Michael Bloomberg's surprise victory as New York mayor.

It was reported yesterday that Bloomberg, although not having reached a decision, was giving serious consideration to the idea of selling the company, which is centred around providing screen-based financial information to Wall Street.

The £6.9bn bid by Thompson, which owns a rival screen-based business to Bloomberg, is thought to be only half of what Bloomberg is understood to want for the business, which he owns 72% of.

There could be other bidders. Merrill Lynch, which owns 20% of Bloomberg, has been linked with a possible bid, as has Pearson, which owns the Financial Times.

Talking to the New York Post, a spokesman for Bloomberg said, "We've had no talks with Thomson. We're not for sale."

Since beginning his bid to become mayor of New York city, day-to-to-day running of the company has passed to Lex Fenwick, chief operating officer, who is expected to now succeed Bloomberg as CEO.

Speculation has been rife that a sale was in the offing since Bloomberg's surprise candidacy was declared. As mayor, he is prohibited from running a business that does business with the city.

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This article was first published on brandrepublic.com