Deal for Reuters faces EU probe

Thomson Corp.’s $18.4-billion offer for Reuters will face an in-depth inquiry by EU antitrust regulators who worry the deal could harm competition in the financial information industry, the European Commission said.

The European Union’s executive arm said its initial investigation saw problems with the combination because both companies supply data feeds to traders, control news services and have access to broker research reports as well as financial information databases that they sell to their customers.