Web of Science Sold for More Than $3 Billion

Thomson Reuters has transferred the science-citation database, along with the rest of its intellectual property and science division, to private-equity firms.

Written byBob Grant

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WIKIMEDIA, TOM BURKEThe science-literature citation index, Web of Science, is going to private-equity firms as part of a $3.55 billion dollar deal, struck by Thomson Reuters, the company that has owned and maintained the resource since its inception in 1997. The multibillion dollar transaction is part of Thomson Reuters’ divestiture of its intellectual property and science division, which includes the sprawling Web of Science database.

The Web of Science was preceded in 1964 by the launch of the Science Citation Index, brainchild of Eugene Garfield—who also started The Scientist. The database and division will soon likely be the property of private equity funds associated with Toronto-based Onex Corporation and Baring Private Equity Asia, which is headquartered in Hong Kong.

“We are pleased to announce the agreement today to sell our Intellectual Property & Science business to Onex and Baring Asia,” said Jim Smith, president and chief executive officer of Thomson Reuters, in a statement released earlier this week (July 11). “With the completion of this divestiture, Thomson Reuters will be even more focused on operating at the intersection of global commerce and regulation.”

According Nature, the new owners will likely ...

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Meet the Author

Bob Grant
From 2017 to 2022, Bob Grant was Editor in Chief of The Scientist, where he started in 2007 as a Staff Writer. Before joining the team, he worked as a reporter at Audubon and earned a master’s degree in science journalism from New York University. In his previous life, he pursued a career in science, getting a bachelor’s degree in wildlife biology from Montana State University and a master’s degree in marine biology from the College of Charleston in South Carolina. Bob edited Reading Frames and other sections of the magazine.
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