Thomson Reuters Corp said on Tuesday that it will cut its workforce by 12 percent by 2020, axing 3,200 jobs, as part of a plan to streamline the business and reduce costs.
The news and information provider, which completed the sale of a 55-percent stake in its Financial & Risk (F&R) unit to private equity firm Blackstone Group LP, announced the cuts during an investor day in Toronto, in which it outlined its future strategy and growth plans.
As part of the streamlining, the company also said it planned to reduce the number of offices around the world by 30 percent to 133 locations by 2020.
The company declined to say where the job cuts were being made.
Shares in Thomson Reuters were up 1.8 percent in early trading in both Toronto and New York.
Following the Blackstone deal, about 43 percent of Thomson Reuters’ revenues come from its legal business, with 23 percent of sales coming from corporate clients and 15 percent of sales coming from its tax business.
Reuters News accounts for only 6 percent of sales but Smith said it remained a key part of the business under the new leadership of Michael Friedenberg, who joined the company on Monday as president of its news and media operations.
‘We believe he can make Reuters News an even greater part of our growth story going forward,’ Smith said.
Thomson Reuters set a target to reduce its capital expenditure to between 7 percent and 8 percent of revenue in 2020 from 10 percent currently.
The company also aims to grow annual sales by 3.5 percent to 4.5 percent by 2020, excluding the impact of any acquisitions.
Thomson Reuters has set aside $2 billion of the $17 billion proceeds from the Blackstone deal to make purchases to help grow its legal and tax businesses.
Shares in Thomson Reuters have risen by nearly 40 percent since May, benefiting from the company buying back $10 billion worth of shares.
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