MEDIA

Thomson, U.S. Change Terms of Disputed Merger Pact: The Justice Department proposed the new agreement to resolve federal concerns that Thomson Corp.’s proposed $3.4-billion purchase of rival West Publishing Co. of Eagan, Minn., would damage competition for legal research materials. The new accord, pending approval by a federal judge, would lower fees to companies for West’s widely used numbering system for court cases. In June, the department and attorneys general from seven states, including California, announced an agreement that would have required Toronto-based Thomson to sell a number of businesses and submit to other restrictions as a condition for antitrust approval of the West acquisition.