Thomson Reuters buys Swiss data provider ASSET4

Thomson Reuters Corp has purchased Swiss environmental, social responsibility and governance data provider ASSET4, the two companies said on Monday.                                           

The amount of the deal was not disclosed.                                           

Privately owned ASSET4, founded five years ago, collects data, such as pollution, water use and violations of corporate governance, on some 3,000 companies. ASSET4, which employs 180 people, delivers data through excel spreadsheets.                                           

Peter Ohnemus, ASSET4's chief executive, said some of the company's main clients were pension funds.                                           

Thomson Reuters, which publishes news and financial data, intends to include ASSET4 data in its products, such as 3000 Xtra and Datastream.                                           

"We don't have hard timelines on integration dates," said Abel Clark, head of strategy for Thomson Reuters's investment and advisory business.                                           

"People are increasingly aware that they need to get a good understanding of any factors that could affect either performance or risk," Clark said. "The plan is to rapidly integrate it into our core financial products."