Financial services conglomerate Bloomberg and tax publisher BNA have entered into an agreement for Bloomberg to acquire all outstanding shares of BNA in a deal worth roughly $990 million, it was announced Thursday. 

The writing is on the wall. Not only has Bloomberg put itself in gear to become a leader in business publishing but it is going after the professional market (tax, law, etc.) in a kind of billion dollar way, speaking volumes about its thrust forward.How will customers respond?

"BNA’s employees have built a superior franchise and we are enthusiastic about a Bloomberg-BNA combination that will deliver more premium content to our professional audiences,” said Dan Doctoroff, chief executive and president of Bloomberg. “BNA research and analysis will make Bloomberg’s products even more valuable, and BNA would benefit from our data and technology expertise.” -- is the official quote.

This is an interesting deal, since BNA was built by shareholder employees.Says Accounting Today, "The acquisition of BNA and its content will bolster Bloomberg Law, the company’s legal research system, as well as enhance Bloomberg’s coverage of tax and accounting, labor and employment, healthcare, intellectual property, and telecommunications issues."

“For more than eight decades, we have provided our subscribers with quality products that allow them to do their jobs more effectively and efficiently,” said Paul N. Wojcik, chairman and CEO of BNA. “We believe this is the start of a new day, where we will join forces with Bloomberg to extend our premium content to an expanded audience.”

The acquisition will also grow Bloomberg’s presence in Washington, D.C. and coverage of U.S. policy and regulatory issues through its Bloomberg News and Bloomberg Government units.

“Bloomberg and BNA share many of the same values, including a commitment to deliver high-quality content to customers, employing highly skilled and experienced workers and offering superior customer service,” said Peter Grauer, chairman of Bloomberg.  “We look forward to welcoming them to the Bloomberg family.”

Billion or not, it will take Bloomberg a long while to "catch-up" to its competitors that provide comprehensive analysis to the same professional audience, and  that customer base is quite loyal.    BNA's materials are distributed on Checkpoint, considered the most respected online research platform in the professional tax and accounting industry-- along with unrivalled braintrust content from Thomson Reuters.

The Bloomberg strategy is extremely aggressive, and it's interesting that they paid a billion dollars to acquire BNA. Building a relationship with the professional customers will take time and as always, we will be watching closely.