News service Reuters has sold its 50% share in news aggregation service Factiva to its partner in the project US news group Dow Jones  & Company. The deal, which is expected to be completed by the end of this year will give Dow Jones 100% control of Factiva. 

"The acquisition will nearly double the size of our Enterprise Media Group," said Rich Zannino, chief executive officer at Dow Jones, adding: "This reflects our determination to reduce our reliance on print publishing." 

Alan Scott, Chief Marketing Officer at Factiva believes the technology and information specialists Factiva has will compliment the news resources Dow Jones has.

"Reuters content will remain on Factiva until mid-2010," Scott said, under the terms of a current agreement between the London based news provider and Factiva. A statement from Factiva states that this agreement will release the aggregator from "certain jont venture conditions that limit Factiva's business opportunities". Scott said news sources from Reuters rivals could be seen on Factiva in the future.

"The time is now right for Factiva to have one owner," Zannino said. Factiva will now become part of Dow Jones Enterprise Media Group, which is headed by former Factiva boss Clare Hart.

Dow Jones said in a statement that it was paying $160 million for the stake and that Factiva was expected to generate a revenue of "approximately $290 million."