Reuters first with disastrous Dow news from Kuwait

Reuters beat Bloomberg on Dec. 28 by two hours with news that Kuwait had cancelled a $17 billion petrochemicals joint-venture deal with Dow Chemicals, triggering a slide in the shares of the U.S. giant the next day. Reuters was first to spot an alert on a reliable private Kuwaiti TV station that Kuwait’s cabinet had halted the deal, beating Bloomberg by 2 hours. Reuters was subsequently swamped with calls from U.S. analysts and fund managers asking for more information on a deal that was seen vital for Dow to be able to fund its takeover of rival Rohm & Haas. Arab media such as CNBC Arabiya and Al Arabiya ran the Reuters story. Dow Chemicals shares fell the next day by 16 percent and the news was the top business story on the day.