Business

BLOOMBERG LP BRACES FOR TERMINAL HITS

Bloomberg LP, whose best-selling financial news and data terminals are ubiquitous on Wall Street, is trying to reassure jittery employees that it will weather the financial storm after the failure of one major client and the sale of another.

In a videotaped address sent yesterday to employees, Bloomberg Chairman Peter Grauer acknowledged the Street had entered “a new phase of market instability” while also seeking to downplay the impact on the company.

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The collapse of Lehman Brothers will result in the loss of 4,000 terminals, or just over 1 percent of Bloomberg’s total terminal base, Grauer said yesterday.

“While the loss of Lehman will sting, the impact on us should be limited,” he said.

More worrisome than Lehman is the fate of Merrill Lynch, which is likely to shed thousands of jobs following the sale.

In July, Merrill agreed to sell its 20 percent stake in the company back to Bloomberg for $4.5 billion. Under the terms, Merrill agreed to “significantly increase” its spending on Bloomberg terminals and other products over the next nine years, Grauer said. The agreement is binding even in the event of a merger or sale.

“The acquirer cannot reduce his own spend on Bloomberg and in fact has to increase it in the same period,” he said.

Although Bloomberg doesn’t disclose revenue, its terminal sales account for the vast majority of its business. There were 290,000 terminals as of the middle of this year, up from 274,000 at the end of 2007.