Thomson Announces Acquisition of Business, Tourism and Economics Lists from Continuum International Publishing Group Ltd

Business Wire, June 27, 2003

Business Editors

LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 27, 2003

The Thomson Corporation (TSX: TOC; NYSE: TOC), the world's largest provider of corporate and professional learning solutions, today announced the acquisition of business, tourism and economics lists from The Continuum International Publishing Group Ltd.

The Continuum business and tourism Lists came partly from the buyout of the Cassell Academic Division, and partly from Continuum's purchase of the Letts Higher Education list in September 2000. The programme featured such titles as Ray Wild's Operations Management, Gerald Cole's Management: Theory and Practice, and Terry Lucey's Costing. Many have been published in new editions in the last two years.

Although a valuable part of Continuum's business, the lists were no longer central to the Group's development in that they did not play to Continuum's transatlantic strength. More than 50 percent of Continuum's business is now in the United States and commissioning is increasingly a joint decision between the offices in both countries. Continuum's publishing focus is now tighter on the Humanities (especially literature, linguistics, philosophy, education, film and music), and theology and biblical studies.

The funds received will be used to finance further acquisitions in Continuum's core areas.

"We are delighted that Thomson will take over the development and marketing of these titles," said Philip Sturrock, Chairman of Continuum. "We have enjoyed working with the highly respected authors of these textbooks and are confident that resources from Thomson will continue to expand the market for them."

"This acquisition is an excellent fit with our growing indigenous publishing programme and provides us with increased respected critical mass in these key subject areas," said Chuck Iossi, Managing Director, Thomson Learning EMEA. "We are committed to providing our customers with the learning tools that they need by building strong and successful businesses in our chosen markets; this acquisition is a major step in helping us execute that strategy."

About The Thomson Corporation

The Thomson Corporation (www.thomson.com), with 2002 revenues of $7.8 billion, is a global leader in providing integrated information solutions to business and professional customers. The Corporation's common shares are listed on the Toronto and New York stock exchanges (TSX: TOC; NYSE: TOC). Its learning businesses and brands serve the needs of individuals, learning institutions, corporations and government agencies with products and services for both traditional and distributed learning.

About The Continuum International Publishing Group Ltd.

Continuum was formed in October 1999 from the merger of the former Cassell Academic and religious lists with the Continuum Publishing Company of New York. Since that time it has grown both organically and by acquisition and expects a publishing turnover of around GBP15 million in the current year. Bertoli Mitchell acted for Continuum in this deal.