Bridge Information Systems was a financial news and data provider that was acquired by

Reuters Group Reuters Group plc was a British multinational media and financial information company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It was acquired by the Thomson Corporation in 2008, forming Thomson Reuters, and moving its head office to Toronto. ...

in September 2001.(9 April 2001)
Reuters eyes Bridge
''CNN Money''

History

The origins of Bridge date to 1974, when the original company was founded in

St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

by investment analysts through acquisition of a computer firm from Dean Witter & Co. Principal founder Charles A. Lebens thought that the development of new time-sensitive investments and financial industry deregulation would create a market for up-to-date financial information.Kipp, Kevin (May 2000)
Informing Investors
, ''St. Louis Commerce Magazine'' In March 1995, Bridge was acquired by

private equity firm A private equity firm is an investment management company that provides financial backing and makes investments in the private equity of startup or operating companies through a variety of loosely affiliated investment strategies including leve ...

Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe (WCAS), also referred to as Welsh Carson, is a private equity firm. WCAS was formed in 1979 and focuses on investing in two growth industries, technology and healthcare, primarily in the United States. WCAS has a ...

.(17 March 1995)
BRIDGE INFORMATION SYSTEMS EXECUTES AGREEMENT FOR ACQUISITION BY WELSH, CARSON, ANDERSON & STOWE
PRNewswire (press release) "Global Financial Information Corp." was the entity formed from Bridge and several other companies combined by Welsh, but the entire concern named "Bridge Information Systems" in September 1996.(27 September 1996)
GFIC reshuffles; becomes major threat to brokerage industry
''Electronic Information Report'' It also moved its headquarters to New York.Gallagher, Jim. (13 September 1999)
You may never have heard of Bridge Information Systems, but you soon will
''St. Louis Post-Dispatch'' Bridge's acquisition of ten companies starting in 1996 under new CEO Tom Wendel, starting with

Knight Ridder Knight Ridder was an American media company, specializing in newspaper and Internet publishing. Until it was bought by McClatchy on June 27, 2006, it was the second largest newspaper publisher in the United States, with 32 daily newspaper brand ...

Financial News for $275 million,(4 August 1996)
The Week in Review
''St. Louis Business Journal'' created significant debt burdens for the company.Manning, Margie (4 February 2001)

''St. Louis Business Journal'' Bridge also bought the

Telerate Telerate was a US company providing financial data to market participants, specialising in commercial paper and bond prices. It was a pioneer in the electronic distribution of real-time market information in the 1970s. With its main innovation ...

unit of

Dow Jones & Company Dow Jones & Company, Inc. is an American publishing firm owned by News Corp and led by CEO Almar Latour. The company publishes ''The Wall Street Journal'', ''Barron's'', ''MarketWatch'', ''Mansion Global'', ''Financial News'' and ''Private Equ ...

in 1998 in return for $150 million of preferred stock.Fabrikant, Geraldine (18 March 1998)
Bridge to Pay $510 Million For Dow Jones Data Business
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' As of May 2000 the company had 5,000 employees (a ten-fold growth from five years prior); half were located in the United States, and six hundred reporters were spread over 100 countries. One thousand employees were located at the company's headquarters in New York, and 800 were in St. Louis (its original headquarters). Unable to meet its ongoing debt obligations, Bridge filed for bankruptcy in February 2001.Zuckerman, George. (16 February 2001)
Bridge Information Systems Files For Bankruptcy-Law Protection
''

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...

'' The purchase of the company by Reuters was finalized by the end of September.

References

{{reflist Defunct financial data vendors