Thomson Reuters Corp ,the parent company of Reuters News  has appointed former Nielsen Holdings Plc president Steve Hasker as its new chief executive officer, succeeding Jim Smith.

The company has said that Hasker, most recently a top executive at Hollywood talent agency CAA and a senior adviser to TPG Capital, will assume his new role on March 15 . The current CEO Smith, a former journalist who oversaw a period of major change at the company, will stay on for a transition period and become chairman of the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

Thomson Reuters , controlled by Canada’s Thomson family, said the board of directors approved an 8-cent per share hike in the annual dividend, to $1.52 per share. In recent years, Thomson Reuters had cut costs and shed some businesses as it recovered from the fallout of the financial crisis in 2008.

With Thomson Reuters back on strong footing under Smith’s leadership, the board wanted to recruit an executive who would chart a long-term growth strategy for the company, two sources familiar with the matter said.

On a call with analysts following the financial report, Smith reaffirmed the company’s commitment to the news business which now contributes about 10% of total annual revenue.

“There’s a lot for us in addition to the tradition and the emotional attachment to the news business that many of us in leadership share,” Smith said. “What we’ve tried to explore ... is more corporate verticals. I see no reason why we can’t have newsfeeds and integrate Reuters News into our professional products as successfully as we have in our financial products.”

Hasker, who also worked at McKinsey & Co as a media consultant earlier in his career, was selected by Thomson Reuters’ board based on his experience in building platforms and running businesses that collect and analyze data, two sources familiar with the matter said.

At Nielsen, which is primarily known for its TV ratings measurement business, Hasker helped accelerate the company’s transformation into a data and analytics firm tracking media consumption and consumer purchases.