Multibillionaire Thomson eyes greater slice of fintech industry

investmentnews.com:

The investment firm for a member of the multibillionaire dynasty behind Thomson Reuters Corp. is looking to ramp up deal-making in New York City as it targets financial sector investments.

Thomvest Ventures, Peter Thomson’s namesake venture capital firm, expects two early-stage investments in New York-based fintech firms to close this month. Those come on the heels of four other recent New York fintech investments, and Thomvest is seeking similar deals for later this year.

There will be “more to come,” Don Butler, managing director of San Francisco-based Thomvest, said in a recent interview. “I’m getting to New York probably every six weeks.”

Butler, 55, manages about $750 million of Thomson’s $10.8 billion fortune. The Canadian family is the 10th richest in the world, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

Thomson is co-chairman of Woodbridge, an investment firm that manages the wealth originated by his grandfather Roy Thomson’s investments in Canadian and British media outlets. He and his siblings David and Taylor each own 14% of Woodbridge, which in turn owns about two-thirds of Thomson Reuters. (Bloomberg LP, the parent of Bloomberg News, competes with Reuters as a provider of financial news and services.)

Thomvest Ventures has made more than 80 investments in areas including finance, cybersecurity and marketing for the 58-year-old billionaire since its creation in 1996, putting it among the most prolific backers of Silicon Valley businesses across several economic cycles. SVB Financial Group’s collapse last year caused financial difficulties for several US companies in its portfolio.

Thomvest, which oversaw about $500 million at the start of this year, launched its latest fund of $250 million on Tuesday as