Reuters Group PLC announced Thursday that it has acquired the mutual fund information business of Lipper Analytical Services, Summit, N.J. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
The transaction teams a leading provider of financial news and data with one of the premier names in mutual fund data and analysis.
Lipper Analytical tracks 39,000 funds with assets of $7 trillion, $5 trillion of which is managed in the United States. Its data base goes back to 1959.
The company has 300 employees in Summit, Denver, New York, London, and Hong Kong.
Reuters chief executive Peter Job said the deal was appealing because the business Lipper follows is poised for dramatic growth, both in the United States and abroad. "There is a tremendous hunger out there for comparative information," he said.
He noted that Reuters supplies services to more than 450,000 data users around the world. Its grasp of the financial markets, knowledgeable sales force, and command of technology make Reuters a good fit for Lipper, Mr. Job said.
A. Michael Lipper, who will continue as chairman of Lipper Analytical, said linking up with a global firm was a big draw. He predicted that mutual fund assets worldwide will grow more than fourfold, to $30 trillion, by 2007, and "the faster growth will be outside the United States." Non-U.S. fund assets, now $2 trillion, should hit $15 trillion in a decade, he said.
Mr. Lipper retained ownership of three sister companies of Lipper Analytical: Lipper Analytical Securities Corp., Lipper Advisory Services, and Lipper Consulting Services.
Simon Thomson, marketing director for Reuters Europe, Middle East and Africa, is to become chief executive officer of Lipper Analytical.
