Reuters and Dow Jones said they were forming a 50/50 venture called Dow Jones Reuters Business Interactive LLC that will combine the global reach of Reuters business briefing with the breadth of US sources offered by Dow Jones Interactive.

The venture, with combined 1998 revenues of over $ 225 million, will have archival rights to the Wall Street Journal, as well as Dow Jones Newswires and Reuters News Wires.

It will also be able to access extensive content from more than 7,000 global business news and information sources in 20 languages, with user interfaces in 11 of these languages.

"Combining Dow Jones interactive and Reuters business briefing will bring together the leading, state-of-the-art business `current awareness' and archival services in north America, Europe and Asia, whichwe expect to be a `must have' offering for every corporate desktop worldwide," Dow Jones chairman Peter Kann said in a joint statement.

"This combination... offers both partners excellent opportunities to realise the potential of the business information market worldwide, particularly through exploiting internet technology," Reuters chief executive Peter Job added.

The deal is the second major agreement between Dow Jones and Reuters. Last October, Reuters signed a deal to offer Dow Newswires as an optional service to Reuters customers.