BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) — Thomson Corp. won European regulatory approval yesterday to buy news and information provider Reuters Group PLC but must sell off several business-information databases to eliminate antitrust concerns, the European Commission said.

EU regulators said the two companies had also agreed with the US Department of Justice and Canadian authorities that Reuters would divest its Reuters Estimates, Reuters Aftermarket Research and Reuters Economics (EcoWin) databases that supply financial-market research reports, earnings estimates and economic data archives.

Thomson would shed copies of Thomson Fundamentals (Worldscope) which provides basic financial data on companies. It may keep Worldscope databases for its own use but cannot sell the information to others.

The EU said this was necessary to make sure financial institutions and customers of these products were not faced with "a reduced choice, the likelihood of price increases and a severe risk of discontinuation of overlapping products."

The companies said they now expect to complete the deal by April 13 and will seek shareholder and court approval for the selloffs. Reuters and Thomson shareholder meetings have been scheduled for March 26.