Thomson Reuters announces C$750 million note offering

Proceeds are expected to be used for general corporate purposes including debt repayment due this year.

The notes are being issued by Thomson Reuters Corporation and will be unconditionally guaranteed by Thomson Reuters PLC. The offering is expected to close on 31 March subject to customary closing conditions. The notes are not being offered or sold in the United States.

Fitch Ratings has assigned an 'A-' rating to the notes. Fitch currently rates Thomson Reuters and its subsidiaries as follows:

Thomson Reuters Corp:

• Issuer Default Rating (IDR) 'A-'
• Bank credit facility 'A-'
• Senior unsecured notes 'A-'
• Commercial paper 'F2'
• Short-term IDR 'F2'.

Reuters Group Limited:

• IDR 'A-'.

Reuters Finance PLC:

• IDR 'A-'
• Senior unsecured 'A-'.

Fitch said the ratings reflect the company’s meaningful cash flow generating ability, its sound balance sheet and its consistent and conservative financial policies. At the end of 2008, proforma unadjusted net leverage was within management's targeted range of at or below two times.

The ratings also reflect Thomson Reuters’ growth prospects, as well as the product line and geographic diversity of its cash flow stream, it said.

“Fitch recognizes there are meaningful barriers to entry in TRI's core businesses and that there are a limited number of well-capitalized, rational competitors that compete predominantly on product differentiation, quality and delivery (rather than on price).

“Unlike traditional advertising-based consumer media subsectors, TRI has already made the transition to electronic delivery and faces very little threat of substitution by digital transplants.

“Rating concerns center predominantly on the cyclicality of the Markets division, however, Fitch notes there is meaningful room in the rating to accommodate potential cyclical weakness in the Markets division. Also, integration and acquisition risk remain concerns. As with other highly rated companies, the potential threat of financial policy revisions is always a concern, although Fitch believes these issues are sufficiently mitigated.” ■