Reorganization And Layoffs At Reuters May Be Warm-Ups For Race To Succeed Renfrew As Number One

Swept by a wave of layoffs and reorganization, Reuters Holdings PLC now appears to be bracing itself for yet another challenge -- the contest to succeed Glen Renfrew as managing director and chief executive. Although the company denies it, several sources expect the 60-year-old Renfrew by the end of next year to announce plans for his retirement.

Who the heir apparent is depends upon whether the question is asked in London or New York. The chief rivals are clearly Reuters Europe managing director David Ure, who is currently responsible for over half of the company's revenue and profit, and Reuters North America president Andre Villeneuve, who has positioned himself as an expert on marketing and technology. Other names said to be in the hopper include international technical manager Patrick Mannix and Reuters Asia managing director Peter Job, who was just named alternate director to Renfrew.

Meanwhile, September was a tumultuous month at Reuters. The firm announced plans to reorganize its regions, began a round of layoffs, prepared to move a manufacturing facility, and reported several executive changes.

Following the tripartite time zone model recently adopted by arch- rival Telerate, Reuters telescoped its four regions -- Europe, Asia, North America, and Overseas -- into three: (1) Asia, (2) America, and (3) Europe, Middle East, and Africa. "The changes are designed to cut costs and improve efficiency," says the company, and will become effective at the first of the year.

The outcome of this game of musical chairs finds Latin America and the Caribbean, formerly of Reuters Overseas, now attached to what used to be Reuters North America. Africa and Israel, which also were part of Reuters Overseas, have now been attached to what used to be Reuters Europe, as has the Middle East, which formerly was part of Reuters Asia.

The respective regional heads remain in place: Villeneuve in Reuters America, Ure in REMEA, and Job in Reuters Asia. Peter Holland, who headed Reuters Overseas, will become assistant general manager of Reuters, reporting to assistant managing director and general manager Michael Nelson, who in turn has announced plans to retire April 30th. Sources speculate that Nelson's job will go unfilled at least until Renfrew's successor is named.

Last year Reuters Overseas accounted for less than four percent of the company's revenue and in recent years, unlike the other regions, it has been plagued with single-digit revenue growth. The plums of the unit, Israel and South Africa, are now attached to Europe. Latin America and the Caribbean are considered by some to be more trouble than they're worth. The task of administering them now falls to Villeneuve's group.

Meanwhile, the layoffs promised in July (MTR, August 1988) began in earnest with incremental cuts, chiefly in marketing and editorial. The biggest single chunk, however, will come with the closing of the IDR manufacturing facility on Long Island and the transfer of those functions to Rich in Chicago. IDR employs about 260, and sources say only about 60 of those are expected to remain with Reuters. IDR chief David Russell will stay with the unit's Imaging Systems Group, which will remain on Long Island, Reuters says.

The company also announced the sudden resignation of Wiley Payne as president of Rich, Inc. Payne, who had been on the job less than a year, is succeeded by former Rich executive vice president and chief financial officer Peter Leger, who has been in charge of planning the IDR move to Chicago.