Thomson Reuters names Friedenberg as president of Reuters news

TORONTO (Reuters) - Thomson Reuters Corp has appointed former IDG Communications CEO Michael Friedenberg as president of Reuters news and media operations, Thomson Reuters said on Tuesday.

Friedenberg will join the company on Dec. 3 and report to Jim Smith, president and chief executive officer of Thomson Reuters, the statement said. He will be based in New York.

Editorial content will continue to be led by editor-in-chief Stephen J. Adler, who will report to Friedenberg.

Friedenberg stepped down as global CEO of IDG Communications, a technology media, data and marketing services company, in October last year.

"Michael's understanding of the challenges facing our media customers and proven track record driving profitable growth will add significant strength to our team as we work to further monetize trusted, mission-critical news for our customers," Smith said.

Thomson Reuters sold a majority stake in its financial terminal business to private equity firm Blackstone Group this year. As part of that deal, the new company now called Refinitiv will make minimum annual payments of $325 million to Reuters over 30 years to secure access to its news service, equating to almost $10 billion.

Reuters News will have about $625 million in revenues, including the annual payment from Refinitiv and about $300 million in revenues from its media business, slightly higher than its cost base.

(Reporting by Denny Thomas; Editing by Susan Thomas)