Thomson Reuters shareholders approve UK delisting

By Georgina Prodhan

LONDON (Reuters) - Shareholders in Thomson Reuters (TRIL.L)(TRI.TO)(TRI.N) approved its delisting from the London Stock Exchange on Friday, distancing news and financial information provider Reuters further from its British roots.

Thomson Reuters, formed in 2008 when Canadian data publisher Thomson Corp bought Reuters, has said it wants to simplify its capital structure and eliminate the persistent discount at which the London shares have traded to the Canadian shares.

It will also delist from Nasdaq, remaining on the main New York and Toronto exchanges.

"I expect that a more straightforward capital structure will ensure that the focus of investors will remain firmly on the company itself and not on its capital structure," Chief Executive Tom Glocer told shareholders in London.

Some 97.4 percent of shareholders of Thomson Reuters PLC voted for the motion to unify the company's dual-listed structure and 99.6 percent of shareholders of Thomson Reuters Corp backed the motion. Fewer than 100 shareholders attended the London meeting, with similar numbers in Toronto.

The Canadian vote was decided by Thomson's family holding company, Woodbridge, which owns about two-thirds of the outstanding shares in Thomson Reuters Corp and had already committed to vote in favour of the move.

Not all shareholders agreed with the decision. "This country is a link to Europe. It looks like everything is going to shift to America and I'm a bit nervous about that," Allan Ferguson, who holds about 686 Thomson Reuters shares, told the London meeting. "I feel that we're just going to be another outpost."

Glocer has moved his base to New York from London, which remains the company's second-biggest base. Thomson Reuters made 58 percent of its revenue in the Americas, 32 percent in Europe, the Middle East and Africa and 10 percent in Asia last year.