Reuters first among the wires on Draka’s coveted wires

Reuters clients got a head start on Nov 22 with news that sent Dutch wire and cable company Draka’s shares up by a quarter to a 26-month high and trading volumes to a record high. As other news organisations struggled to verify a 1 billion euro bid announcement from China’s obscure Xinmao Group distributed through unofficial channels, Reuters together with its Dutch partner ANP quickly verified that the press release was not a hoax and notified clients. As Draka’s shares soared and The Financial Times’ live markets blog attributed the rise to Reuters, investors called the bureau to try to get more on the announcement. Reuters was 8 minutes ahead of Bloomberg with its alert while Dow Jones trailed by 42 minutes, by which time Draka’s shares had stabilised at their new highs.