A US bankruptcy court has approved Reuters' bid to purchase the primary North American assets of Bridge Information Systems.
Bridge and some of its affiliates have been in reorganisation proceedings under Chapter 11 of the US Bankruptcy Code since earlier this year. At a hearing in St. Louis, Missouri, the court reviewed the results of an auction for Bridge’s business operations. Reuters, which stood toe-to-toe with SunGard in a bidding war for Bridge's core US institutional assets, was declared the winner on 30 April.
Reuters acquisition will include the North American operations of Bridge Information Systems; the EJV bond pricing, data and analytics services; Bridge Trading Technologies, including Bridge Trading; eBridge; and the CRB Index.
The two companies have entered into a definitive agreement for the acquisition. Reuters says it will make all necessary regulatory filings shortly, with the aim of completing the transaction as soon as possible. The transaction is also subject to finalising an agreement on key terms of a new network services agreement with Savvis Communications, Bridge’s network provider.