Thomson Reuters names joint operating chiefs; four executives depart

(Reuters) - Financial news and information company Thomson Reuters named Brian Peccarelli and Neil Masterson as its co-chief operating officers on Monday as part of a reorganization, which also involves four executives leaving the company.

Peccarelli, currently president of the company's tax and accounting unit, will head all customer-facing operations including driving sales. Current Chief Transformation Officer Masterson will manage commercial and technology operations.

Thomson Reuters, the parent company of Reuters News, is in the process of selling a majority stake in its Financial and Risk unit, which sells data and news primarily to financial customers, to private equity firm Blackstone Group LP.

Steve Adler will continue to lead Reuters News.

As part of the changes, Susan Taylor Martin, president of the Legal business, and Gonzalo Lissarrague, president of the Global Growth Organization, will leave the company, Thomson Reuters CEO Jim Smith said in a statement.

Chief Communications Officer Gus Carlson and Chief Strategy Officer Brian Scanlon have also elected to leave, the company said.

Thomson Reuters competes for financial customers with Bloomberg LP as well as News Corp's Dow Jones.

(Reporting by Supantha Mukherjee in Bengaluru; Editing by Nick Zieminski)