I came from the Reuters world, and yes it was a purchase, not a merger. We (Reuters) were on the ropes, and darn near bankruptcy. Why do you think the "15% ownership rule" was waived for the Thomson Family. If Reuters was a health company, there is no way that clause would have been waived. Glocer put lipstick on a pig, and swindled the trust-fund babies into pay WAY to much for a name, and made $20M in doing so.
Fast forward 10 years and it is clear the Thomson Family is getting out. They started with TR IP, and now F&R. Tax or legal will be next, I am leaning toward legal going next. The F & R business was dropped right into BS lap, because the Thomson Family was done dealing with it, and didn't feel like doing the dirt work or hard work to sell F & R in pieces.
Good post from @VEBvMXU-nhb. I thought more people should read it.