When it was still owned by its creator, brokers Hoare Govett, and when it subsequently went public in London, Datastream International’s name was seldom out of the financial pages, but since it was acquired by Dun & Bradstreet Corp in 1984, the London electronic financial information services company seems to have become eclipsed by hungrier competitors, and Dun has now decided that it can better spend the cash needed to revitalise the business elsewhere and has put Datastream up for sale. Also on the Dun block is Interactive Data of Lexington, Massachusetts, acquired from Chase Manhattan Corp two years ago for $140m. Interactive provides services in the US similar to the ones provided by Datastream in Europe and Japan, and also offers securities software and systems. Reuters Holdings Plc is tipped as a potential buyer of both businesses.
