Reuters, the global information, news and technology group, has confirmed that it is considering a bid to acquire "certain assets" of bankrupt rival Bridge Information Systems.
Reuters confirmed its interest in a brief statement released to the London Stock Exchange's Regulatory News Service. Reuters refused to elaborate on the scope of its interest, stating: "The company is considering this as a result of the evolving situation."
Bridge is the subject of a Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceeding in the United States Bankruptcy Court in the Eastern District of Missouri. It has already agreed to a £165 million bid from SunGard Data System for the EJV bond data and analytics products and the BridgeNews LiveWire Company News service in the US, plus the Bridge Trading Company brokerage business and the eBridge Internet software division.
The SunGard transaction - which excludes other businesses such as Telerate, Bridge Commodity News, Bridge's non-US operations and sundry other assets including holdings in Savvis Communications and BridgeDFS - remains subject to better offers.
Reuters' interest is likely to centre on Bridge's US business. The UK-based information supplier currently draws about 15% of its revenues from North and South America.
While happily picking up business from Bridge defectors, Reuters has so far refrained from stepping in with its own bid for fear of offending Wall Street sensitivities about its monopoly on information supply. At least one large US investment bank is understood to be interested in an outright purchase of Bridge assets.