Bloomberg has promised to create "a new model for the business weekly" after winning the auction for Business Week with an offer worth just a few million dollars for the 80-year-old US financial magazine.

The rare break from Bloomberg's tradition of organic growth came as Thomson Reuters, its rival in financial data terminals, was putting the finishing touches to a takeover of Breakingviews.com, a UK-based financial commentary website. Staff have been called to internal meetings today at which bid details could be announced.