Under the agreement, the BidRoute automated auction service will be accessible to the Thomson Order Routing community, which spans leading brokers and investment managers around the world.

Participants on both the buy side and sell side will be able to access BidRoute by utilising the existing Thomson Order Routing network functionality. BidRoute appears as another destination on the buy side's OMS in the same way as a broker appears. Having first set trading preferences via its BidRoute screen, a buy side firm can send the details of the portfolio trade across the Thomson Order Routing network. At all times the buyside retains control of the process and following completion of the BidRoute facilitated auction the details of the portfolio can be routed to the winning broker, again drawing on the existing Thomson Order Routing network.

BidRoute is a web-based auction house for portfolio trading which enables traders to undertake best price discovery and lessen the operational and market risk associated with portfolio trading for both investment managers and broking organisations. Using BidRoute, traders are able to show a portfolio of stocks to multiple brokers around the world and invite bids in the same time it would usually take to deal manually with a small number of brokers with whom they have established relationships. It will also give them access to specialised brokers not previously on their radar.

The Thomson Order Routing network is the largest global hub-and-spoke network, connecting traders across continents and time zones to any trading partner and venue. The order routing service is both market and broker- neutral, transferring industry-standard order and execution FIX messages, between institutional and broker trading partners.

Barry Marshall, Chief Executive of BidRoute says: "This is a strategic coup for BidRoute and a signal the market is embracing a commitment towards increased automation and best execution. The Thomson order routinng community includes the world's leading brokerages, banking institutions, asset managers and hedge funds with a growing following among regional destinations, including Turkey, Poland, Greece, Russia, India, China, Taiwan, and Korea among others. This partnership will help build BidRoute as a truly global market place."

Oliver Hugh-Jones Head of European Equities and Sales for Thomson Financial commented: "We are delighted to be the first to offer access to the BidRoute Auction community through our Thomson Order Routing network. Shared clients such as Gartmore recognise the advantages of BidRoute's automated auction trading over our network, which will help improve market transparency and efficiency."

Chris Sims, Head of Investment Operations at Gartmore Investment Management, one of the first buy-side firms to adopt BidRoute's technology said: "We have utilised the Thomson Order Routing network for many years and are pleased Thomson Financial has acted swiftly to provide BidRoute access to its routing community".