Thomson Reuters Corp sells health-care unit to Veritas Capital

Financial news and information provider, Thomson Reuters Corp (TRI), has agreed on a sale of its health-care division to Veritas Capital for $1.25 billion to focus on its main businesses.

The sale to the private-equity firm is likely to be completed over the next few months, the company said in a statement today. Veritas has obtained debt financing commitments for the deal, Thomson Reuters said. Both parties are New York-based.

The media company put the business up for sale in June, saying it lacked the global scale of the company's other units.

The business provides data and analytics to hospitals, government agencies and employers. The sale makes strategic sense and allows Thomson Reuters to buy assets related to its tax and legal businesses, according to analysts.

They say the health-care unit was not the highest-margin business and was not going to be a big growth area for them.

''With the completion of the divestiture, Thomson Reuters will be even more focused on our core global businesses,'' James Smith, chief executive officer, said in today's statement.