BT has signed a $3bn (£1.7bn) outsourcing contract with
Reuters - its biggest ever global outsourcing deal.
As part of the same deal, BT will acquire loss-making financial
services extranet provider Radianz from Reuters for £97m.
The contract will see BT become Reuters' supplier of network
services for eight and a half years.
BT will provide and manage secure data networks for Reuters
products and services worldwide.
BT said the purchase of Radianz is an important step in its
strategy of becoming a global provider of networked IT
services.
Tom Glocer, Reuters group chief executive, said, "The sale of
Radianz sees Reuters exiting the market for the provisioning and
management of data networks, which is a major part of our Fast
Forward business transformation programme."
Ben Verwaayen, BT chief executive, said, "The acquisition of
Radianz is of strategic importance, as the global financial
services market offers a huge opportunity to BT."
The capture of Radianz follows BT’s recent acquisitions of
Albacom and Infonet.
Reuters and BT had been in negotiations about an outsourcing
contract and the transfer of ownership of Radianz since last
October.