Thomson Reuters has completed the sale of a controlling stake in its Global Print business to investment accounts advised by KKR. The business now operates as Westbridge Print, while the deal leaves Thomson Reuters with a minority stake and control of its content.
The company announced completion on October 1. Westbridge Print serves legal and tax professionals in 13 countries and supplies commercial printing services to book publishers.
Under the terms announced in July, the KKR-advised accounts acquire 51% and Thomson Reuters retains 49%. Thomson Reuters had said it expected approximately US$500 million in gross proceeds at closing. The completion notice did not publish a final net-proceeds figure.
Gross proceeds are the amount received before transaction costs, taxes or other deductions. They are also different from the profit recorded on a sale, which depends on the value of the assets being sold and the accounting treatment.
The content stays with Thomson Reuters
The agreement separates control of the distribution business from ownership of the material it distributes. Thomson Reuters retains intellectual property rights and full editorial control over its content portfolio.
The joint venture receives an exclusive license to distribute that content in print and through ProView, the professional e-book platform. In return, it pays Thomson Reuters a royalty, a payment for the right to use the content.
That arrangement gives Thomson Reuters a continuing commercial interest in print even after surrendering majority ownership of the operating business. Its retained equity stake and royalty agreement are separate sources of potential returns.
For customers, the transaction transfers the print business into a separately operated company. It does not announce the discontinuation of the publications, the transfer of their editorial control or a uniform change in subscription prices.
The July announcement described customers including lawyers, tax professionals, governments, law schools and corporations, primarily in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. Commercial printing extends beyond those professional markets to other book publishers.
Print was declining while the wider business grew
Thomson Reuters’ second-quarter results showed a 3% decline in Global Print revenue, alongside 9% growth in total company revenue and 8% organic growth. Organic growth excludes currency movements and acquisitions or disposals.
The contrast helps explain management’s decision to put more attention on legal, tax and corporate software and information services. Those three main professional divisions recorded combined organic revenue growth of 10% in the quarter.
Chief executive Steve Hasker said in the August results announcement that the transaction would allow the company to “sharpen our focus on content-powered AI solutions”. The closing announcement repeated that strategic direction.
We examined one part of that investment in our earlier coverage of Thomson Reuters’ proprietary AI model. Ownership of specialist material gives the company content it can use in its digital products while licensing distribution through other channels.
The sale alone does not establish that customers will adopt more AI services or that the remaining business will become more profitable. Those outcomes depend on product performance, customer demand and the costs of delivering the services.
A minority holding leaves continuing exposure
The company’s August disclosure said Thomson Reuters had agreed to provide financial support designed to give KKR a minimum return on its equity investment in certain circumstances. The brief closing announcement did not quantify that possible support.
Thomson Reuters also said it would report Global Print as a discontinued operation in its third-quarter results. That accounting classification separates a disposed business from continuing operations; it does not mean Westbridge Print has stopped trading.
The company had planned to update its full-year outlook alongside those results. It has scheduled the third-quarter earnings release for November 3, when investors will receive the reporting that follows completion of the deal.
