In June it emerged that Thomson Reuters was looking to offload the unit, which includes the flagship Kondor, bringing in Barclays Capital to advise on a sale.

At the time, various private equity firms, as well as vendor Misys, were floated as potential bidders, with a price tag in the region of $500 million mooted.

In a brief statement, Thomson Reuters now says it has signed an agreement under which PE outfit Vista has made a binding offer for the business.

The company will now begin the information and consultation process and talk to relevant works councils, unions and employee representatives. Once this is completed, the sale will be finalised, probably by 31 January.

The sale comes on the heels of a shake-up at Thomson Reuters' global markets division, which saw the departure of CEO Devin Wenig and a move to "streamline" operations.