From one central application, Thomson ePIB enables the user to simultaneously search through multiple databases covering over 80,000 global companies, and retrieve and tailor a target set of company information according to predefined criteria. The Web-based tool integrates Thomson Financial content, third-party sources, and selected proprietary data, into one virtual database, including financials, news articles, M&A deals, new issues, ownership, earnings estimates, daily pricing, block trading activity and investment research.

Using one search input, Thomson ePIB automatically sorts through and compiles information from all of these sources, while its customisable features streamline and standardise the PIB to meet user specifications and formatting needs. Cross-content searches can be conducted by name, ticker symbol, Isin, Sedol or Cusip. Unique search and reporting criteria for each content set can be defined by many variables including date, report type, deal value or keyword.

Thomson Financial content accessible via Thomson ePIB includes real-time data from Disclosure, NewsEdge, Worldscope, Securities Data, Investext, MarkIntel, Thomson Ownership Data, I/B/E/S, Datastream and AutEx BlockDATA. Third party data includes Standard & Poor's among others yet to be announced.

Kenneth Read, executive vice president Thomson Financial Investment Banking Group, says: "Thomson ePIB is formatted to replicate what investment banks generally spend hours creating internally...Thomson ePIB saves them time, manpower and money, and offers easy access to all relevant content with simple searching generated from a company identifier. In addition, several company standard PIB templates can be created and stored for future use."