Fitch reviews Thomson Reuters

Fitch Ratings said it placed the BBB+ issuer default rating and the underlying BBB+ senior unsecured issue ratings assigned to Thomson Reuters Corp. on rating watch negative following the company's Jan. 30 announcement that it entered into a strategic partnership with Blackstone for Thomson Reuters’ Financial & Risk business (F&R).

Roughly $7.4 billion of debt outstanding as of Sept. 30, 2017 is affected by this action.

Fitch said the rating watch reflects the material transformation the company is contemplating with Blackstone that will yield a company with much less revenue and cash flow scale and diversity, along with having a different risk profile relative to legacy Thomson Reuters, its peer group and current BBB+ issuer default rating expectations.

Thomson Reuters’ LTM ended Sept. 30, 2017 revenues and EBITDA excluding F&R will decline to $5.2 billion and $1.5 billion, respectively, generated by its remaining Legal, Tax & Accounting and Reuters News businesses, the agency explained.

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