ThomsonReuters, the global business intelligence firm, has bought Hugin Group, the European IR and PR distribution group from NYSE Euronext. Although terms have not been disclosed it has been reported in the Danish press that the price was between €40m and €42m.

Hugin, which sends out corporate press releases from offices in London, Copenhagen, Finland and Helsinki, was founded in 1995. Euronext acquired Hugin in December 2006, prior to their merger with the NYSE, combining it with Company News Group, the Paris-based wire service they’d acquired ten months earlier. The figure was also undisclosed, but sources close to the company revealed that the price then was in the region of €22m – a substantial return for NYSE Euronext.

Thomson Reuters has been expanding its range of services to the IR and PR services. Not only does the acquistion provide them with access to Hugin’s client base of 1,700 clients, but, the deal has the potential to bring them closer to NYSE Euronext. According to a Thomson Reuters spokesman the “Thomson Reuters and NYSE Euronext will expand their strategic partnership toward offering value-added services to the issuer community".