Reed puts RBI up for sale & acquires ChoicePoint

Business Publisher, March 1, 2008

Reed Elsevier (Amsterdam; London) is seeking a buyer for its Reed Business Information (RBI; London; New York) operations. In addition, Reed Elsevier has acquired ChoicePoint (Atlanta, GA), a provider of analysis on consumer information, for $4.1 billion.

Operating on five continents, RBI produces hundreds of magazines, web sites, newsletters, directories and related information products for a wide range of industry segments, including building and construction, electronics, gifts and furnishings, hospitality, manufacturing, media and publishing, and printing. Notable RBI US titles include "Variety," "Packaging Digest," "Multichannel News," "Graphic Arts Monthly," "Plant Engineering," "Chain Leader," "Design News," "Modern Materials Handling," "Home Textiles Today," "EDN," "Electronic Business," "Custom Builder" and "Interior Design."

RBI US has offices in Scottsdale (AZ), Boston, Los Angeles, San lose (CA), Greensboro (NC), Highlands Ranch (CO), Norcross (GA) and Oak Brook (IL). RBI also has offices in Beijing, Canada, the U.K., France, Germany, the Netherlands, Singapore, Tokyo, Spain, Australia, Italy and Israel. Rumored potential buyers include investment firms Apax Partners, Permira, Guardian Media, Candover, Cinven and Providence Equity Partners, with the sale price approaching $2 billion.

In a statement, Reed Elsevier said that "although RBI has had considerable success in developing high-growth online services, its advertising revenue model and its inherent cyclicality fit less well with the subscription based information and workflow solutions focus of Reed Elsevier's strategy." Reed Elsevier CEO Gerard van de Aast said the company "no longer views advertising-dependent businesses as aligned with the company's growth strategy" and that the sale of Harcourt Education last year and RBI are part of Reed's strategy to focus on subscription-based information products.

For the year ending Dec. 31, 2007, RB1, including Reed Exhibitions (Norwalk, CT), had revenues of 906 million [pounds sterling] (1, 323 million [euro]; $1.71 billion) and adjusted operating profit of 119 million [pounds sterling] (174 million [euro]; $253 million) with advertising accounting for approximately 60% of revenues.

RBI US President Tad Smith said the decision "neither surprises nor worries me. We have a vibrant and exciting business that is successfully making the transition from print to online across dozens of market sectors in countries all around the world."

Also, Reed Elsevier has acquired ChoicePoint (Atlanta, GA) for 2.1 billion [pounds sterling] ($4.1 billion), or $50 per share, including the assumption of $600 million indebt. Reed Elsevier was represented in the deal by Morgan Stanley. ChoicePoint, which aggregates and analyzes consumer data for insurance companies, was established in 1997 as a spin-offof Equifax. It offers data and services for business, government and no-profit organizations including products related to business credentialing and research, commercial insurance, debt recovery, training, underwriting, due diligence, employment screening, drug testing, and compliance.

The company had 2007 revenues of $982 million Reed sakt ChoicePoint will become a part lfits LexisNexis Risk Information and Analytics Group and will make the company a leading provider of risk information and analytics that now includes a major presence in the insurance segment and screening, authentication and public rec6rds areas.

Earlier this month, RBI unit Reed Construction Data (Norcross, GA) completed the acquisition of Tectonic Partners from holding company Geronimo Investments (Atlanta, GA). No terms were given. Tectonic is a provider of building information modeling